Calle Mallorca 401
Tel. 93- 207 30 31
Subway: Sagrada Familia
Bus: 19, 33, 34, 43, 44, 50, 51, 54
Open: 9am- 8pm (Nov- Feb: to 6pm; Mar & Oct: to 7 pm)
Closed: Jan 1 & 6, Dec 25 & 26
www.sagradafamilia.org
The Expiatory Temple of the Holy Family (Catalan: Temple
Expiatori de la Sagrada Família), known simply as the Sagrada
Familia, is a Catholic basilica in Barcelona (Spain), designed by
the architect Antoni Gaudí. Started in 1882, it is still under
construction. It is Gaudí's masterpiece and the greatest exponent of
Catalan modernist architecture. It is the most visited monument in
Spain, and it is the most visited church in Europe after St. Peter's
Basilica in the Vatican. When completed, it will be the tallest
Christian church in the world.
The Sagrada Familia is a
reflection of Gaudí's artistic plenitude: he worked on it for most
of his professional career, but especially in the last years of his
career, where he reached the culmination of his naturalistic style,
in which he achieved a synthesis of all the solutions and styles
tested until then. Gaudí achieved a perfect harmony in the
interrelation between structural and ornamental elements, between
plastic and aesthetics, between function and form, between content
and container, achieving the integration of all the arts into a
structured and logical whole.
Since 1915, Gaudí dedicated
himself practically exclusively to the Sagrada Familia, which
represents the synthesis of the architect's entire architectural
evolution. After the construction of the crypt and the apse, still
in neo-Gothic style, the rest of the temple was conceived in an
organic style, which imitates the shapes of nature, where regulated
geometric shapes abound. The interior was to resemble a forest, with
a set of inclined, helical-shaped arborescent columns that create a
structure that is both simple and resistant. Gaudí applied to the
Sagrada Familia all of his discoveries previously experienced in
works such as Park Güell or the crypt of Colonia Güell and managed
to create a temple that was structurally perfect as well as
harmonious and aesthetic.
The Sagrada Familia has a Latin
cross plan, with five central naves and a three-nave transept, and
an apse with seven chapels. It boasts three facades dedicated to the
Birth, Passion and Glory of Jesus and, when completed, it will have
eighteen towers: four on each portal, making a total of twelve for
the apostles; four on the transept, invoking the evangelists; one on
the apse, dedicated to the Virgin; and the central dome tower, in
honor of Jesus, which will reach 172.5 m in height. The temple will
have two sacristies next to the apse and three large chapels: that
of the Assumption, in the apse; and those of Baptism and Penance,
next to the main façade. Likewise, it will be surrounded by a
cloister designed for processions and to isolate the temple from the
outside. Gaudí applied a high symbolic content to the Sagrada
Familia, both in architecture and sculpture, since he dedicated
religious meaning to each part of the temple.
During Gaudí's
life, only the crypt, the apse and, partially, the Nativity façade
were completed, of which Gaudí only saw the tower of Saint Barnabas
crowned. Upon his death, his assistant, Domingo Sugrañes, took
charge of the construction; Subsequently, it has been under the
direction of various architects, with Jordi Faulí i Oller being the
director of the works since 2012. Artists such as Llorenç and Joan
Matamala, Carles Mani, Jaume Busquets, Joaquim Ros i Bofarull,
Etsuro Sotoo and Josep worked on the sculptural decoration. Maria
Subirachs, the latter author of the decoration of the Passion
façade.
The work that Gaudí made, that is, the façade of the
Nativity and the crypt, was included in 2005 by UNESCO in the World
Heritage site "Works of Antoni Gaudí". It is a monument declared in
the register of Cultural Assets. of National Interest of the Catalan
heritage and in the register of Assets of Cultural Interest of the
Spanish heritage with the code RI-51-0003813. It is also, since
2007, one of the 12 Treasures of Spain. Also, in 2007, it was chosen
one of the Seven Wonders of Catalonia. The temple was declared a
minor basilica on November 7, 2010 by Pope Benedict XVI. That year,
the newly built main nave of the temple received the City of
Barcelona Prize for Architecture and Urban Planning. The Sagrada
Familia is also popularly known as the "Cathedral of the poor",
because of the homonymous painting by the modernist painter Joaquín
Mir.
The idea of building an expiatory temple dedicated to the Holy Family
came from the bookseller Josep Maria Bocabella, inspired by the priest
Josep Manyanet - canonized in 2004 -, founder of the religious
congregations Congregation of Sons of the Holy Family and Congregation
of Missionary Daughters of the Holy Family of Nazareth, in charge of
promoting the cult of the Holy Family and encouraging the Christian
education of children and young people. In 1869, Manyanet published The
Spirit of the Holy Family, where he launched the idea of a temple in
Barcelona dedicated to his cult For this purpose, Bocabella founded the
Spiritual Association of Devotees of San José in 1866, with the aim of
raising funds. In 1871, Bocabella visited Pope Pius IX in Rome and,
during that trip, visited the sanctuary of Loreto (Ancona), which is
supposed to guard what was the house of Joseph and Mary in Nazareth, a
temple that served as his inspiration for the planned Barcelona church.
In 1881, Bocabella bought a plot of land for the construction of the
temple in a place known as El Poblet, near Camp de l'Arpa, in San Martín
de Provensals - at that time an independent municipality that would be
added to Barcelona in 1897 -, between Provenza, Mallorca, Marina and
Sardeña streets. This land was included in the Cerdá Plan for the
Ensanche of Barcelona. The plot, measuring 130 × 120 m, was a little
larger than the normal blocks of Ensanche —normally 100 × 100 m—,
because in the Cerdá Plan it was reserved for a racecourse, which in the
end was not built. It cost 172 000 pesetas of the time.
To
disseminate its work, the Association of Devotees published a magazine
since 1867, initially called El Propagador de la Devoción a San José,
directed by the Mercedarian priest José María Rodríguez Bori; in 1948 it
was renamed Templo and, since 1981 , Temple (in Catalan). Since 1895,
the project was managed by the Construction Board of the Expiatory
Temple of the Sagrada Familia, a canonical foundation created to promote
the construction of the temple through donations and private
initiatives. Its ex-officio president is the archbishop of Barcelona,
currently Juan José Omella. In 2001, the Board received the Creu de Sant
Jordi award from the Generalitat of Catalonia.
From its
beginnings, the Sagrada Familia was financed with alms and donations,
which caused the works to slow down or even stop on several occasions
due to the lack of contributions. In 1891, for example, an important
donation of just over half a million pesetas - paid in monthly
installments between 1891 and 1898 -, coming from the last will of the
widow Isabel Bolet, allowed the construction of the Nativity façade to
begin. Similarly, in 1905, at another time when the works were almost
stopped, the poet Joan Maragall wrote an article titled A grace of
charity, to call on public opinion to collaborate with the construction
of the temple.
The project was first commissioned by the diocesan
architect Francisco de Paula del Villar y Lozano, who after several
successive projects devised a neo-Gothic complex and rejected
Bocabella's idea of making a replica of the Loreto sanctuary. Villar's
project consisted of a church with three naves, measuring 44 × 97 m,
with typical Gothic elements, such as honeycomb windows, exterior
buttresses and a tall needle-shaped bell tower, which would have reached
100 m in height.
The first stone was laid on March 19, 1882
(Saint Joseph's Day), with the presence of the then bishop of Barcelona,
José María Urquinaona. Gaudí attended the ceremony, since he had worked
as Villar's assistant on some project; note 3 At that time, he could not
imagine that he would become the architect of said work. To commemorate
the event, a pillar at the entrance door on Mallorca Street with the
date, the pontifical shield and a cross. The works did not begin until
August 25, 1883 and were awarded to the contractor Macari Planella i
Roura.
In 1883, Villar resigned due to disagreements with
Bocabella, who had the advice of the famous architect Joan Martorell.
Note 4 The project was offered to Martorell himself, but when he
refused, it was offered to a young Gaudí of thirty-one years. . The
architect from Reus took charge of the works on November 3, 1883. Gaudí
had been Martorell's assistant in several constructions, a fact that
motivated the recommendation of the recently graduated architect, who
had not yet carried out major works. When Gaudí took charge of the
project, he modified it entirely—except for the already built part of
the crypt—and gave it his own style. However, he could not change the
orientation of the building, since the foundations had already been
made. Gaudí would have preferred to place the axis of the building
diagonally to the block, to place the apse facing east and to have a
greater length in plan.
During the remaining forty-three years
of his life he worked intensely on the work, the last fifteen
exclusively. Furthermore, for the last eight months before his death, he
lived in the temple workshop. This intense dedication can be explained,
in addition to the magnitude of the work, by the fact that Gaudí defined
many aspects as the construction progressed, instead of having
previously specified them in their plans and instructions. Therefore,
his personal presence in the work was of great importance. Almost from
the beginning, Gaudí had the help of two of his most faithful
collaborators, Francisco Berenguer and Juan Rubió. Later, around 1909,
he had the collaboration of Josep Maria Jujol. When Berenguer died, in
1914, Domingo Sugrañes, until then his second assistant, became his
first assistant; and, in 1918, Francesc Quintana entered as second.
Gaudí estimated that the construction would last centuries. For this
reason, he proposed to the Construction Board to build vertically
instead of horizontally, so he raised and finished the façade of the
apse, first, and of the Nativity, later, so that the generation that had
begun the work could see something finished and At the same time, this
finished façade could serve as an incentive for future generations to
continue the temple. His proposal was accepted.
It is not
possible for a single generation to reach the entire Temple, so let us
leave such a vigorous example of our passage so that generations to come
feel the incentive to do the same; and on the other hand let's not tie
them down for the rest of the work (...). We have made a complete façade
of the Temple so that its importance makes it impossible to stop
continuing the work.
Antoni Gaudí
The temple grew slowly and
Gaudí changed the project along the way, a project that gradually
evolved into construction as the architect's ideas took shape, which he
expressed in models that he made in his workshop. Aware of the magnitude
of the work, Gaudí put more effort into its conception than into its
execution. The poet Joan Maragall, a friend of the architect, commented
in 1900 that "I understand that the man who has put the most of his life
into the construction of this temple does not wish to see it completed"
(article entitled The Temple that is Born, published in the Diario de
Barcelona). For Maragall, the temple was more a symbol than a building,
the redemptive project of a city that expresses a collective aspiration
for moral development, "the construction that redeems from all
destruction." For Maragall, the Sagrada Familia is "poetry of
architecture", "the temple that does not conclude, that is in perennial
formation, [...] the temple that constantly awaits its altars."
Between 1908 and 1909, Gaudí built the Sagrada Familia Schools on the
land designated for the Gloria façade, intended to provide education to
the children of the workers and children who lived near the temple. They
were inaugurated on November 15, 1909 by the bishop of Barcelona, Juan
José Laguarda y Fenollera. Their construction entailed a cost of 9,000
pesetas, which was borne by Gaudí himself.
On December 11, 1921,
the first stone of the temple nave was laid—specifically the base of the
column dedicated to Tarragona—with a blessing ceremony officiated by the
archbishop of Tarragona and metropolitan of Catalonia, Francisco Vidal y
Barraquer. .
In 1923, while Gaudí was still alive, the
calculations of the structure of the ships signed by his assistant,
Sugrañes, were published in the bulletin of the Association of
Architects of Catalonia. Those who have continued the construction have
been based on these calculations, although it has been necessary to
adapt them to comply with the regulations in force today.
Gaudí,
aware that the construction of the temple would be carried out by later
generations, tried to define the project on plans, but, knowing that he
would not have time in his lifetime, he made several detailed plaster
models at a scale of 1:10 and 1: 25 of the most significant parts, with
the hope that they would be used as models in the rest of the building.
Gaudí designed the central nave, the sacristy and the Gloria façade in
three-dimensional models. The model of the main nave was to serve as a
model for the rest of the naves and the model of the sacristy was to be
the model for the central towers.
During Gaudí's life, only the
crypt, the apse and the Nativity façade were partially built, since only
one of the four towers was completed - the architect only saw the tower
of Saint Barnabas crowned. He had the collaboration of several artists:
in sculpture, Carles Mani, Llorenç Matamala and Joan Matamala; in
drawing, Ricard Opisso, who worked as an office assistant developing
plans and making profiles of figures or motifs to scale. When he died in
1926, hit by a tram, his assistant, Domingo Sugrañes, took charge of the
works (during the years 1926-1936), which completed the three towers
that remained on the Nativity façade.
On July 20, 1936, two days
after the coup d'état that led to the Civil War, anarchists from the FAI
set fire to the crypt, destroying most of the workshop in which Gaudí
had worked, where his works were located. sketches, models and models. A
few days after the destruction, the architect Lluís Bonet i Garí
requested that the broken fragments of the models be rescued, which were
saved. Among these, others that were buried and later recovered and the
preserved photographs of the original models, starting in 1940 Lluís
Bonet, Isidre Puig i Boada and Francesc Quintana restored and
reconstructed the models, prepared their plans and built a new replica
of the model of the main nave at a 1:10 scale, which today can be seen
in the basilica museum.
When, in 1944, it was decided to continue
the construction of the Sagrada Familia, it first had to be defined how
to proceed to build the temple in the most faithful way to Gaudí's
ideas. In charge of this gigantic task were the architects Bonet,
Quintana and Puig Boada, while Jaume Busquets and various other
sculptors were in charge of the sculptural work. The works resumed on
June 30, 1948, with a small ceremony consisting of the celebration of a
mass in the crypt and an act presided over by the members of the
Construction Board at the window of the transept, the first to be
addressed in this new phase. The definitive impulse came in 1953,
thanks to the publication of a pastoral letter from the bishop of
Barcelona, Gregorio Modrego, in which he expressed his desire to
accelerate the works; The following year, the Construction Board decided
to build the second façade, that of the Passion, financed thanks to
donations, annual collections and the beginning of the entry of visitors
to the works. The towers of the façade were completed in 1976. The main
set of sculptural figures on the new façade was commissioned in 1987 by
Josep Maria Subirachs. Likewise, the Japanese sculptor Etsuro Sotoo
collaborated on some sculptures on the Nativity façade, the fruit
baskets on the exterior windows and the restoration of the sculptures on
the Rosary door. From 1987 to 2012, the works were under the direction
of Jordi Bonet i Armengol, when he was replaced by Jordi Faulí i Oller.
In 1987, work on the naves of the temple began; In 2000 the central nave
was covered and, in 2010, the entire temple was covered.
One of
the points that has aroused the greatest controversy around the Sagrada
Familia is its location in the urban fabric of Barcelona: when the works
began it was in the countryside, but it was soon integrated into the
rapid development that occurred in the city at the beginning of the
twentieth century. In 1916, Gaudí carried out a project to include the
Sagrada Familia within the Romeu-Porcel Plan, the urban project heir to
the Jaussely Plan, a new link project that was to connect the Ensanche
of the Cerdá Plan with the new added municipalities: he conceived of
locating the temple within a garden area in the shape of an octagonal
star, which would have provided an optimal view of the temple from all
surrounding areas. Finally, due to the cost of the land, he reduced the
project to a four-pointed star, which allowed a wide view from all
corners. However, Gaudí's plan was finally not carried out: in 1975, the
City Council of Barcelona carried out an urban study that planned to
create a cross-shaped area around the Sagrada Familia, with four garden
squares at each end of the temple; even so, currently only two of these
squares exist and the creation of new ones It would involve the
demolition of several buildings, so the ideal solution to frame the
Sagrada Familia in its surroundings is still being studied. In December
2013, the City Council published a report with several proposals for
urbanization around the temple, prepared by the firm Estudi Massip-Bosch
Arquitectes, which offered eight possible solutions: leaving it as it
is; make a 60 m wide avenue to Diagonal Avenue, which would partially
affect two blocks of buildings; make the same avenue but narrower; make
a narrow-width avenue to Valencia Street, which would only affect one
block of homes; make an avenue to the Diagonal wider, completely
demolishing the two blocks; completely eliminate the first block,
creating a plaza similar to the two adjacent to the Nativity and Passion
facades; the four-pointed star sketched by Gaudí; and, finally, a
variant of the previous one in a smaller size. The final decision must
be made in consensus between the City Council, the Construction Board
and the affected neighbors.
The Sagrada Familia has had several
notable events: in 1921 the Jubilee Year of Saint Joseph was celebrated
with processions, pilgrimages and masses, and Handel's Hallelujah was
sung by a thousand choir singers from all over Catalonia, directed by
Lluís Millet. In 1952, on the occasion of the XXXV International
Eucharistic Congress held in Barcelona, the monumental staircase and the
artistic lighting of the Nativity façade were inaugurated, massive
communions were celebrated, a prayer of the nations for world peace was
made and the car was performed. sacramental The matrimonial dispute of
the body and the soul, by Pedro Calderón de la Barca.
Numerous
personalities have visited the Sagrada Familia: Popes John Paul II
(1982) and Benedict XVI (2010); the kings of Spain, Alfonso XIII (1904)
and Juan Carlos I (2002); the then Japanese prince Akihito (1985); the
president of France, François Mitterrand (1992); the president of China,
Jiang Zemin (1996); the president of Portugal, Jorge Sampaio (2002),
etc.
Between the years 1940 and 1980, a part of the unbuilt site
of the temple was dedicated to basketball practice for the youth of the
neighborhood. In 1940, the Unión Deportiva Sagrada Familia was
founded—later U.D. Gaudí—, which had its first track on Calle de Marina
touching Mallorca (1942-1949) and then moved to Calle de Sardeña
(1949-1955), Calle de Mallorca (1955-1965) and Calle de Navy
(1965-1987). In 1987, the track was closed to accommodate the new access
to the temple museum.
In 1981, Gaudí's square was opened in front
of the Sagrada Familia, with a garden project by Nicolás María Rubió
Tudurí, where the pond stands out, in whose waters the temple is
reflected. The following year, on the occasion of the centenary of the
placement After the first stone was laid, the temple received a visit
from Pope John Paul II. Likewise, on March 18, 2007, the 125th
anniversary of the laying of the first stone of the temple was
commemorated with a party, concerts and sardana dances (The Santa
Espina) surrounding the temple. The Sagrada Familia is the usual scene
of numerous cultural events and religious meetings.
Chief
architect Jordi Faulí announced in October 2015 that construction was
70% complete and had entered its final phase of erecting six bell
towers. Visitor entrance fees—15 to 20 euros—financed the annual budget
of construction of 25 million euros.
On August 20, 2017, a solemn
mass was celebrated in the Sagrada Familia in memory of those who died
in the Rambla attack on August 17, with the presence of King Felipe VI
and Letizia, the President of Spain Mariano Rajoy, the President of
Portugal Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, the President of the Generalitat
Carles Puigdemont, the Mayor of Barcelona Ada Colau and other
authorities.66
In 2018, a long-standing dispute between the
temple and the Barcelona City Council was settled: although, when work
on the temple began, the Construction Board requested a building license
from the San Martín de Provensals city council—at that time an
independent municipality. —, after its annexation to Barcelona in 1897,
a new license was not formalized in the Barcelona town hall. On October
18, 2018, an agreement was announced between both parties that regulated
the project license and announced the preparation of an urban plan to
improve the environment, as well as a project for the Sagrada Familia
metro station to have a direct access to the temple itself. In this
agreement, the Construction Board agreed to make compensation of 36
million euros for the inconvenience caused by tourism to the
neighborhood environment, which would be used to make improvements in
the environment and transportation.
The sculptural work of Josep
Maria Subirachs on the Passion façade was declared on February 11, 2019
a Cultural Asset of National Interest, according to the cataloging
carried out by the Generalitat of Catalonia, which noted that it is an
"exceptional episode in contemporary sculpture that "It has turned its
author into an essential reference of Catalan art."
In March
2020, the works on the Sagrada Familia were stopped due to the COVID-19
pandemic. Visits to the temple were also paralyzed, and were resumed on
July 4 after taking appropriate measures to avoid contagion. The first
visits were offered free of charge to health professionals who fought
against the pandemic. On the other hand, on July 26, a mass was offered
for the victims of the coronavirus. The stoppage of works led to the
renunciation of the estimated goal of finish the works in 2026, date of
the centenary of Gaudí's death.
That same year, on September 26,
an indefinite strike was called by subcontracted workers of the Sagrada
Familia, which sought to achieve the conversion of all staff to an
indefinite contract, the normalization of the work calendar and pay the
workers affected by the ERTE. The company replaced the strikers with
security personnel and, on November 7, a demonstration in support of the
strike was broken up by police forces. On December 17, the company
dismissed 231 workers who were on strike or in a situation from ERTE.
In January 2021, work resumed, with the initial goal of finishing
the Mary tower that same year.
The first mass was celebrated on March 19, 1885 in the chapel of San
José in the crypt. The temple was initially a parish possession of San
Martín de Provensals - since 1907, with Gil Parés, a friend of Gaudí, as
custodian chaplain. , until it was erected as a parish in 1930. Its
first parish priest was Marià Bertran, who was succeeded by: Lluís Puig
(1948), Joan Clerch (1955), Joan Pellisa (1975), Lluís Bonet i Armengol
(1993) and Josep Maria Turull (2018). It is currently the seat of the
archpriestship of the Sagrada Familia, which includes the churches of
the Holy Spirit, Immaculate Heart of Mary, Our Lady of the Rosary, San
Olegario Obispo and Santo Tomás de Aquinas.
On November 7, 2010,
the temple of the Sagrada Familia was dedicated to religious worship by
Pope Benedict XVI, in an event attended by the kings of Spain, Juan
Carlos I and Doña Sofía, together with the archbishop of Barcelona,
Lluís Martínez Sistach, and various authorities including the president
of the Generalitat, José Montilla, the president of Congress, José Bono,
and the mayor of Barcelona, Jordi Hereu. In this ceremony, the Pope
declared the Sagrada Familia a minor basilica, being the ninth church in
the Catalan capital to receive this distinction.
As of July 9,
2017, Sunday masses, which until then were celebrated in the crypt,
began to be celebrated in the main nave of the temple, by decision of
Archbishop Juan José Omella.
On October 21, 2017, a
beatification was celebrated in the temple, that of one hundred and nine
Claretian martyrs murdered in 1936. The ceremony was presided over by
cardinals Angelo Amato, prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of
Saints, and Juan José Omella, Archbishop of Barcelona.
In 2018,
after the retirement of Lluís Bonet i Armengol, note 8, Josep Maria
Turull was appointed parish priest of the basilica of the Sagrada
Familia, the first to hold office for the basilica as a whole and not
just for the crypt as had been happening. until then.
When Gaudí began to direct the construction of the temple, only the
crypt had begun, in which he modified the capitals, which went from
being Corinthian style to another style inspired by plant motifs. Gaudí
evolved from the first neo-Gothic project towards his particular
naturalistic, organic style, inspired by nature. The architect believed
that the Gothic was imperfect, because its straight forms, its system of
pillars and flying buttresses, did not reflect the laws of nature, which
according to him is prone to regulated geometric forms, such as the
hyperbolic paraboloid, the hyperboloid, the helicoid and the conoid.
Ruled surfaces are shapes generated by a straight line, called the
generatrix, when moving along one or several lines, called guidelines.
Gaudí found them in abundance in nature, such as in reeds, reeds or
bones; He said that there is no better structure than a tree trunk or a
human skeleton. These forms are both functional and aesthetic, and Gaudí
used them with great wisdom, adapting the language of nature to the
structural forms of architecture. The architect assimilated the helical
shape to movement and the hyperboloidal shape to light. He said the
following about ruled surfaces: "paraboloids, hyperboloids and
helicoids, constantly varying the incidence of light, have their own
richness of nuances, which make ornamentation and even modeling
unnecessary."
Gaudí modified his conception of the temple over
the years, since the interruptions of the works due to lack of financial
resources gave him time to look for new structural solutions. Likewise,
he took advantage of his experimentation in other projects to
incorporate his most successful innovations into the Sagrada Familia:
the crypt of Colonia Güell, as well as the galleries and viaducts of
Park Güell, helped him adopt new architectural solutions based on
hyperboloids and paraboloids, as well as as in helical columns.
Likewise, the towers of the Sagrada Familia were inspired by an
unrealized project for some Franciscan Catholic Missions in Tangier
(1892), commissioned by the Marquis of Comillas.
Without the
large-scale testing of the warped, helical shapes in the columns and
paraboloids in the walls and vaults, which I have done in the Colonia
Güell, I would not have dared to use them in the temple of the Sagrada
Familia.
Antoni Gaudí.
For Gaudí, a key element in his way of
conceiving the structure was the parabolic arch or catenary, also called
the force funicular, which he used as the most suitable element to
withstand the pressures. By simulating different experimental
polyfuniculars, he determined the optimal shape of the structure to
withstand the pressures of the arches and vaults, first in the crypt of
the Colonia Güell and later in the Sagrada Familia. He developed a scale
model of interwoven strings from which small bags of shot were suspended
that simulated weights; Thus, he determined the funicular forces and the
shape of the structure. Therefore, based on the state of charges,
simulated with the shot bags, he experimentally determined the ideal
shape of the structure - which he called "stereostatic" -, which
reproduced the optimal structure for working in traction and which,
inverting it, obtained the ideal structure to work in compression.
Gaudí conceived the interior of the Sagrada Familia as if it were
the structure of a forest, with a set of arborescent columns divided
into various branches to support a structure of interlocking hyperboloid
vaults. He inclined the columns to better receive the pressures
perpendicular to their section; In addition, he gave them a
double-turned helical shape (right-handed and left-handed), as in the
branches and trunks of trees. Due to the set of elements applied to the
columns—inclination, helical shape, branching into several smaller
columns—he achieved a simple way to support the weight of the vaults
without the need for external buttresses.
He designed a
basilica-type plan in a Latin cross, with the main altar above the
crypt, in a presbytery with an ambulatory surrounded by seven apsidal
chapels; in front of the altar, a transept with three naves, with the
portals of the Birth and the Passion; longitudinally the central body,
with five naves, with the portal of Glory. The plant has dimensions of
117 × 82.5 m and the built area will have a total area of 4,500 m². Its
capacity will be 14,000 people.
The complex will also include a
cloister that will surround the church, planned for holding processions
and to isolate the temple from the outside; In the center of the section
corresponding to the apse there will be the chapel of the Assumption. It
will also have two sacristies on the sides of the apse façade, as well
as the large circular chapels of Baptism and Penance on the sides of the
Glory façade. The main level of the temple is elevated 4 m above street
level, leaving a basement and semi-basement occupied by the museum and
workshops.
The temple will have eighteen towers, four on each of
the three facades making a total of twelve for the apostles, in the
center the dome tower dedicated to Jesus - 172.5 m high -, another four
consecrated to the evangelists around the dome tower and, above the
apse, another dome dedicated to the Virgin. They have a parabolic
profile and have helical stairs that leave the central part hollow to
place tubular bells arranged like a carillon.
Next to the temple,
Gaudí built several annex buildings: the chaplain's house - built in
1887 and renovated between 1906 and 1912 -, a simple brick construction,
to which were attached various spaces used as Gaudí's office, a model
workshop and a photography laboratory; and the Sagrada Familia Schools
(1909), a small building used as a school for the children of the
workers who worked on the construction site.
Gaudí conceived a
complex iconography that he based exclusively on its condition as a
Catholic temple and on religious worship, for which he adapted all the
architectural elements to the liturgical rites. To do this, he was
mainly inspired by Prosper Guéranger's The Liturgical Year, a
compilation of all the cults and religious festivities that occurred at
the end of the year, as well as the Roman Missal and the Ceremonial of
bishops. For Gaudí, the Holy Family was a hymn of praise to God, in
which each stone was a verse. The exterior of the temple represents the
Church, through the apostles, the evangelists, the Virgin and Jesus,
whose main tower symbolizes the triumph of the Church; The interior
alludes to the universal Church and, the transept, to the Celestial
Jerusalem, mystical symbol of peace.
Gaudí personally designed
many of the sculptures of the Sagrada Familia, to which he applied a
curious working method devised by him: first, he made a deep anatomical
study of the figure, focusing on the joints - for which he carefully
studied the structure of the human skeleton—; Sometimes, he used dolls
made of wire to test the proper posture of the figure to be sculpted.
Secondly, he took photographs of the models, using a system of mirrors
that provided multiple perspectives. Next, he made plaster casts of the
figures, both people and animals—on one occasion he had to hoist a
donkey so it wouldn't move. On these molds he made corrections to the
proportions to achieve a perfect view of the figure depending on its
location in the temple, larger the higher it was. Finally, it was
sculpted in stone.
The work of the Sagrada Familia is slow,
because the Master of this work is in no hurry.
Antoni Gaudí
Begun in 1882 according to the project of Francisco del Villar, when
Gaudí took charge of the works on November 3, 1883, he transformed the
pillars by adding capitals with naturalistic motifs; He also raised the
vault and surrounded the crypt with a pit to have direct lighting and
ventilation. On the other hand, he moved the main altar to the place
planned for the main staircase, corresponding to the center of the
transept, which he thus left free, placing two spiral staircases on the
sides in its place.105 Gaudí's first plans for the Sagrada Familia They
were from the chapel of Saint Joseph, built between 1884 and 1885, the
date of the celebration of the first mass. Work on the crypt continued
until 1891.
Located 10 m deep with respect to street level, the
crypt has a semicircular shape, 40 m long by 30 m wide. The ambulatory
is made up of seven chapels dedicated to the Holy Family of Jesus: Saint
Joseph, the Sacred Heart, the Immaculate Conception, Saint Joachim,
Saint Anne, the chapel of Saint John the Baptist and Saint John the
Evangelist and the chapel of Saint Elizabeth and Saint Zacharias. They
are arranged in the form of a rotunda, in front of which five others are
located chapels in a straight line: the central one dedicated to the
Sagrada Familia - which houses the altar -, flanked by the chapels of
Nuestra Señora del Carmen - where Gaudí is buried -, of Jesus Christ, of
Our Lady of Montserrat and of Santo Cristo - where he was Josep Maria
Bocabella was buried, until his tomb was desecrated in 1936. In the
space located under the spiral stairs on the sides there are two
sacristies.
The vaults of the crypt are in the Gothic style,
each of them—a total of 22—with a central key decorated with anagrams or
images of angels and other motifs; It is worth highlighting the keystone
of the central vault, with a polychrome relief dedicated to the
Annunciation, the work of Joan Flotats. This central vault is the
highest and stands out on the upper floor two meters above the ground,
at the height of the presbytery, where Some windows allow you to see the
crypt from above and provide light to the space below. It is supported
by lunettes supported by arches on ten pillars in bundles of columns.
The altar is presided over by a relief altarpiece of the Holy
Family, initially made for the oratory of the Batlló house and later
placed here. The image of the family of Nazareth was sculpted by Josep
Llimona, while the Holy Christ and the candelabras They were modeled by
Carles Mani; the frame was designed by Gaudí himself. Several of the
original sculptures were destroyed in 1936, such as that of Saint
Joseph, by Maximí Sala; those of the Sacred Heart and the Immaculate
Conception, by Josep Llimona; and that of Christ who presided over the
main altar, by Joan Matamala. Before 1936, only the Santo Cristo by
Josep Llimona is preserved. Of the current ones, the image of the Virgen
del Carmen is the work of Jaume Busquets; the images of the Immaculate
Conception, Saint Joseph and the Sacred Heart are by Josep Maria Camps i
Arnau.
The crypt is surrounded by a Roman mosaic of opus
tessellatum where the vineyard and wheat are represented, symbols of the
Eucharist, the work of the Italian mosaicist Mario Maragliano. The
stained glass windows were made with rich color, with images of singing
angels and musicians and lilies. The holy water fonts in the crypt are
made with large sea shells (Tridacna gigas) from the Philippines, which
were provided to Gaudí by the Marquis of Comillas, owner of the Spanish
Transatlantic Company. Some of the lamps in the Gaudí made the crypt
with his own hands, since the doctor had recommended manual labor to
combat rheumatism. He also designed the liturgical furniture of the
crypt, such as a lectern, a tenebrarium, cabinets, confessionals and
chandeliers, executed by him. carpenter Joan Munné.
The crypt of
the Sagrada Familia, along with the construction workshop, suffered
significant damage on July 21, 1936 in a fire caused during the burning
of churches in Barcelona during the Civil War. This attack destroyed and
damaged forever some of the models, plans and documents of Gaudí's
original project. In that same act, the tomb of the temple's founder,
Josep Maria Bocabella, was also desecrated, although fortunately Gaudí's
remained intact, as his disciples were able to verify when they opened
the tomb in 1939.
Between 2007 and 2009 the crypt was subject to
careful rehabilitation, essentially to place new foundations, because
the previous ones came from Villar's project and perhaps would not have
been sufficient for the modifications made by Gaudí, which doubled the
height of the building; But, along the way, the mosaic paving was
restored, as well as the stained glass windows installed in the crypt.
On April 19, 2011, a new fire broke out in the crypt, caused by a
regular parish attendee, which destroyed practically the entire
sacristy. Although the damage was extensive, none of the elements of
historical value were affected, such as Gaudí's original stained glass
windows. The more than fifteen hundred tourists who were visiting the
temple at that time were evicted by the authorities, although it was
restored normality a little later. The police arrested the cause of the
fire within a few minutes.
The apse occupies the head of the temple, between the Nativity and
Passion façades. The chapel of the Assumption will be located in the
center of the cloister that surrounds it and will have two sacristies on
the sides, of which one has been built at the moment. Gaudí dedicated
the apse complex to the Virgin Mary, of whom he was a great devotee. The
project contains seven apsidal chapels dedicated to the seven sorrows
and joys of Saint Joseph, according to the wishes of the founder
Bocabella. These chapels are separated on the outside by eight
buttresses with spiers, which reach 50 m in height. Each chapel contains
three stained glass windows in its upper part, delimited by two other
buttresses with lower spiers. Of Gothic inspiration, as it is located
above the crypt, it follows the same structure. Its construction took
place from 1890 to 1893, although the vaults of the chapels and the
ambulatory were not completed until the beginning of the 21st century.
The apse contains a profuse sculptural decoration where the statues
dedicated to holy founders of religious orders stand out: on the
buttresses are located (from Birth to Passion) Saint Clare, Saint Bruno,
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, Saint Benedict of Nursia, Saint Scholastica
and Saint Antonio Abad; In the window of the façade of the transept
there are Saint Francis of Assisi and Saint Teresa of Jesus (Birth and
Passion respectively). There are also the anagrams of Jesus (the initial
of his name surrounded by a crown of thorns), of the Virgin (her initial
with the crown of Queen of Heaven and Earth) and Saint Joseph (her
initial accompanied by daffodils, flowers that evoke purity and
chastity). The pinnacles of the buttresses are topped with sculptures of
spikes and buds of flora from the environment - when it was built it was
a field -, arranged like a bouquet of flowers offered to the Virgin. In
addition, at the top of the buttresses there are gargoyles in the shape
of animals (snake, chameleon, snail, lizard, lizard, frog and
salamander), the work of Llorenç Matamala. In the interior part of the
apse there are fifty-six sculptures of corbels of angels, distributed
among the seven chapels, the work of Jaume Cases.
The high
railings of the apse chapels bear floral decoration of the antiphon of
the Small Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary: cedar, palm, cypress,
cinnamon, rose, olive and balsam. Likewise, the terminals of the
pediments of the apse are finished with a sculptural decoration that
symbolizes the fruits of the Virgin Mary: rose hips, cinnamon, dates,
olives and grapes. The lanterns of the chapels have the symbols of the
antiphons of the last week of Advent, known as "O antiphons":
Or
Sapientia: wisdom, with a lion and a lamb as a union of strength and
meekness;
O Adonai: Hebrew invocation of God (ducal crown and
scepter);
Or Radix Jesse: rod of Jesse;
Or Clavis David: key as a
sign of dominance;
O Oriens: sun as a symbol of justice;
O Rex
Gentium: cornerstone (stone with the anagram of Jesus and royal crown);
Or Emmanuel rex: king and legislator (royal mantle, sword and tables of
the Law).
The chapel of the Assumption, for which Gaudí left an
elaborate project, will be in the shape of a stone litter, reminiscent
of the litter with which the so-called Virgin of August was taken out in
procession from the cathedral of Gerona. The architect was inspired by
the work of Lluís Bonifaç from the Girona cathedral, from which he
reproduced details in the chapel such as the curtains, the crown, the
pillars and the angels. The chapel will be topped by a 30 m high
lantern. The dome will be like a mantle raised at the ends by angels,
who will be located on the pinnacles of the pediments. The main pediment
will bear the inscription Salve, Regina, Mater Misericordiae, in honor
of the Virgin of Mercy, patron saint of Reus, the architect's hometown.
Inside, the Holy Trinity will appear in the dome crowning Mary,
surrounded by angels. —as an invocation of Our Lady of the Angels—; In
the gallery there will be twelve angels—for the twelve stars of the
Virgin's crown—with the fruits of the Holy Spirit; Under the gallery
will be the death of the Virgin, that of Saint Joseph, the presentation
of Mary in the temple by Saint Joachim and Saint Anne and the wedding at
Cana. In the portals there will be the saints of Barcelona devotions:
Saint Roque and Saint José Oriol. Work on this chapel began in 2022.
The sacristies will have a height of 35 m, on a base of 18 × 18. For
now, the west one has been built, built between 2011 and 2016. It has a
square ground floor, whose exterior sides coincide with the cloister
that surrounds it. the temple. On the first floor, the angles are
chamfered, so it has an octagonal plan. Finally, the dome is a polygon
of twelve paraboloids. The outer corner contains three of the obelisks
that will delimit the four corners of the temple, on which is placed a
lantern in the shape of an elliptical hyperboloid. The walls have
triangular openings limited by the generatrices and guidelines of the
paraboloids. On the pediments and the lantern are inscribed the
invocations of the Apocalypse (Rev 7, 9-12), in Catalan: Lloança
("praise"), Glòria, Saviesa ("wisdom"), Acció de gràcies
("thanksgiving"), Honor, Power and Força ("strength"). The dome is
topped with a pinnacle of three edged shields, decorated with enameled
ceramic figures of the Lamb and the Harvester—symbols of Jesus Christ—,
the work of Francesc Fajula, as well as the Amen inscription, in red
porphyry, and the JHS monogram, in gilded Venetian glass, all crowned by
a bronze ring, which represents the alliance with the Church, and the
crown of life, which the martyrs receive at the resurrection (Rev 2,
10).
Being dedicated to the joyful event of the birth of Jesus, this
façade presents an ecstatic decoration where all the elements are
evocative of life. It focuses on the most human and familiar facet of
Jesus, with a wide profusion of popular elements, such as tools and
domestic animals. Oriented to the east (northeast), it receives the dawn
sun, which reinforces the idea of life and joy linked to birth, in
contrast to the Passion façade, which represents the death of Christ and
therefore receives the light of sunset; Gaudí carefully studied the
symbolism of all the spaces of the temple. The façade is divided into
three archivolts, which present three porches dedicated to the
theological virtues: Hope on the left, Faith on the right and Charity in
the center. It culminates with the bell towers dedicated to Saint
Matthias, Saint Jude Thaddeus, Saint Simon and Saint Barnabas. It was
built between 1893 and 1936.
The original sculpture is by Llorenç
Matamala and Joan Matamala, note 12 with the help of Carles Mani,
author of wax molds of various figures on the façade, and with later
contributions from Jaume Busquets, Joaquim Ros i Bofarull and Etsuro
Sotoo, the last one who worked on the façade, which ended in 2016.
Everyone finds their things in the temple: the peasants see chickens
and roosters; scientists, the signs of the Zodiac; the theologians, the
genealogy of Jesus; But the explanation, the reasoning, is only known to
the competent and should not be vulgarized.
Antoni Gaudí
The
three archivolts have the rampants supported by two columns on the
inside and on the cloisters on the outside. These columns are formed by
six helically fluted drums: that of Joseph between the portico of Hope
and that of Charity; and that of Mary, between the portico of Charity
and that of Faith. At the base of the columns a turtle is represented -
one of land and one of sea - as a symbol of what is unalterable over
time, while the capitals are in the shape of palm leaves, from which
clusters of dates covered in snow emerge—due to winter, the date of the
nativity of Jesus—, which support two angels with trumpets that announce
the birth of Christ. In contrast to the turtles, chameleons were placed
on both sides of the façade, symbols of change. Made of sandstone from
Montjuïc, in Gaudí's original project this façade had to be polychrome,
with paint of different colors on the archivolts of the three porticos;
Thus, all the statues would have been painted, both those of human
figures and those of flora and fauna and other objects. note 13 However,
to date this decoration has not been carried out.
The three
porches have four doors – the central one is double – designed by Etsuro
Sotoo, made of polychrome bronze and glass, decorated with vegetation,
insects and small animals, in evocation of the place where Jesus was
born: the door of Charity is decorated with ivy — symbol of
obedience—and pumpkin flowers—symbol of marriage; that of Faith contains
wild roses without thorns, following the example of Saint Francis of
Assisi, who removed the thorns from roses; and, that of Hope, presents
some reeds, like those of the river that the Holy Family crossed on
their flight to Egypt. Among the insects and small animals that appear
on the doors, you can see butterflies, ants, flies, grasshoppers,
spiders, dragonflies, beetles, crickets, bedbugs, wasps, centipedes,
bees, ladybugs, caterpillars, etc. The first of these doors, those of
the Charity portal, were placed between July and December 2014; that of
the portico of Hope was installed in July 2015; and that of the Faith
portal was placed on November 30, 2015. On the Caridad door you can also
see the Latin inscriptions Deus Caritas Est and Caritas Numquam Excidit,
while the roses on the two doors draw the initials J and M (Joseph and
Mary).
This façade was chosen by Gaudí to give a global idea of
the structure and decoration of the temple: as he was aware that he
would not be able to finish the project in the course of his life,
instead of building the temple as a whole in a linear way He preferred
to build a complete façade in all its verticality, to give a complete
sample of what the rest should be like. He chose this façade because it
was, in his opinion, the one that could be most attractive to the
public, thus encouraging the continuation of the work. after his death;
In his own words:
If instead of making this decorated, ornate,
turgid façade, I had started with the Passion, hard, bare, as if made of
bones, the people would have withdrawn.
It is the oldest of the three and is dedicated to Jesus. It is formed
by slanting walls that go from the doors to the columns located between
the archivolts, which originate from their capitals; This central
archivolt is structured around a pentalobed arch that serves as a
guideline and ends in the window of the central tympanum. The walls are
grooved, with six edges that emerge from a sand bank and are interrupted
by pedestals decorated with sculptural motifs of plants and domestic
birds, on which are placed niches with sculptures of the adorations and
the Nativity crowning the mullion. The portico develops a series of
scenes about the birth of Jesus: the Annunciation and the Coronation of
Mary, along with the Adoration of the Kings and the Adoration of the
Shepherds - the latter work by Ros i Bofarull (1981-1982) -; We also
find the star of Bethlehem and the signs of the Zodiac, arranged as they
were on the night Jesus was born (Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo and
Virgo), as well as musical angels - with classical instruments (harp,
bassoon and violin) and popular ones (guitar, tambourine and
bagpipe)—and the fifty-nine beads of the rosary surrounding the window.
On the lintel of the doors there is the inscription "Gloria in excelsis
Deo et in terra pax hominibus bonae voluntatis." There are also numerous
representations of plant species.
The Jesus Gate is divided by a
mullion with the Jesse Tree, which presents the genealogy of Christ. At
its base is the snake biting the apple, a symbol of original sin; The
lower part of this column is protected with a cylindrical iron grille,
the work of the forger Joan Oñós. Above the capital is the Nativity
group, the work of Jaume Busquets (1958), with a Choir of child angels -
made by Etsuro Sotoo in 2000 -, which support some phylacteries with the
inscription "Jesus est natus. Come, adoremus", to whose message the
birds go to the foot of the cradle, according to the popular Catalan
carol El cant dels ocells (The song of the birds).
The portal
culminates in the Tree of Life, which represents the triumph of life and
the legacy of Jesus. Here we find the anagram of Jesus with the letters
JHS (from Jesus Christus or Jesus Hominum Salvator, Jesus Savior of
Humanity), on a Greek cross, with the Greek letters alpha and omega as a
symbol of the beginning and the end. He is surrounded by censer angels
and angels carrying bread and wine, a symbol of the Eucharist. Above the
anagram we find a family of pelicans, a bird that represents a primitive
Christian symbol that also alludes to the Eucharist, with an egg symbol
of the origin and fullness of life and nature. In an ascending direction
there are two stairs - as an ascension to God - and a cypress that
symbolizes eternal life, with a group of doves that represent the
faithful who come to God. Finally, we find a representation of the Holy
Trinity, with the Greek letter tau, initial of the name of God in Greek
(Theos), the X of Jesus (for the Greek letter ji, initial of Christ in
Greek) and the dove of the Spirit Holy.
Dedicated to Saint Joseph, it has a shape similar to the central portico, with two-channel slanting walls that follow the pentalobed shape of the archivolt. Here we find the scenes of the Betrothal of the Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph, the Family of Jesus (with Saint Joachim and Saint Anne), The Wise Man and the Child Jesus, The Death of the Holy Innocents, The Flight into Egypt and The Boat of Saint Joseph, in which Joseph is the helmsman who leads the Catholic Church. We can also observe the placement of various tools: a saw, a mallet, a chisel, a square, a screwdriver, a hammer and an axe. In allusion to the flight to Egypt - and symbolizing the hope of life - there are domestic animals such as geese, geese or ducks representing the fauna of the Nile, as well as the flora of Egypt. note 15 The portico is topped by a large pinnacle similar to the rocks of Montserrat - specifically the Cavall Bernat -, with the Latin inscription Salva nos.
Dedicated to the Virgin Mary, it has a structure similar to the portico on the left. In this portico we perceive the following scenes: the Immaculate Conception, in which the Virgin appears on a three-armed lamp, in reference to the Holy Trinity; Her Visitation, the Virgin visits her cousin Elizabeth; The presentation of Jesus in the temple, where the Child Jesus appears in the arms of the priest Simeon and, next to him, the prophetess Anna appears, who recognizes Jesus as the Messiah; Jesus working as a carpenter; and Jesus preaching in the temple, between the figures of Saint John the Baptist and Saint Zechariah. We also find the Heart of Jesus, covered with thorns and mystical bees that suck his blood; Divine Providence, in the form of a hand with the all-seeing eye; grapes and ears as a symbol of the Eucharist; flora and fauna of Palestine; note 16 and palm leaves—a symbol of martyrdom—on the columns.
The Passion façade began to be built in 1956—after the excavation
work carried out in 1954—according to the drawings and explanations that
Gaudí had left. The towers were finished in 1976 and, since then, work
has been done on the sculptural decoration, which was completed in 2018
with the installation of the triumphal cross and the Empty Sepulcher
group. Gaudí designed this façade during a convalescence from fever. of
Malta in Puigcerdà, in 1911, although the final sketch was drawn in
1917. Dedicated to the Passion of Jesus, it aims to reflect the
suffering of Christ in his crucifixion, as redemption for man's sins.
For this reason, he conceived a more austere and simplified façade,
without ornamentation, where the nakedness of the stone stood out,
resembling a skeleton reduced to the simple lines of its bones. Only the
sculptural groups of the passion cycle of Jesus appear, the work of
Josep Maria Subirachs, who devised a simple and schematic set, with
angular shapes that cause a greater dramatic effect. Subirachs carried
out his work between 1987 and 2009.
Gaudí himself described his
conception of the Passion façade in the following way:
Someone will
find this door too extravagant; but I would like it to be scary, and to
achieve this I will not spare the chiaroscuro, the incoming and outgoing
motifs, everything that results in the most gloomy effect. What's more,
I am willing to sacrifice the same construction, to break arches and cut
columns to give an idea of the bloody nature of the Sacrifice.
Oriented to the west (southwest), the façade is supported by six large
inclined columns, which resemble redwood trunks,196 on which is located
a large pediment or upper porch of pyramidal shape made up of eighteen
bone-shaped columns and topped by a large cross. The towers are
dedicated to the apostles James the Less, Saint Thomas, Saint Philip and
Saint Bartholomew.
The Passion façade has three portals equally
dedicated to Faith, Hope and Charity, where the bronze doors created by
Subirachs stand out. The central portal—of Charity—has two doors
dedicated to the Gospel, with the evangelical texts that narrate the
last days of Jesus, separated by a mullion with the Greek letters alpha
and omega, as a symbol of the beginning and the end. The doors measure
5.28 m high by 2.82 m wide, and weigh 6,500 kilos. The one on the left
presents the passages related to the Passion from the Gospel of Matthew
and the one on the right, from that of John. Altogether, they have a
total of about 10,000 letters, some of which are highlighted with gilded
bronze, such as the phrase "What is truth?", which Pilate answered to
Jesus when he stated that he came to "bear witness to the truth" (John
18, 38).
In front of the Gospel doors is the Flagellation
column, which replaces the cross initially planned by Gaudí; For this
reason, Subirachs divided the column into four blocks, which symbolize
the four parts of the cross. It is five meters high and is made of
travertine marble. Other notable details of the column are: the knot,
which symbolizes the torture suffered by Jesus; the fossil, found in the
marble block according to Subirachs, and which is shaped like a palm
tree, a symbol of martyrdom; and the reed that the soldiers gave to
Jesus instead of the royal scepter, as a symbol of the scorn suffered by
the Redeemer. The three steps symbolize the three days that elapsed
until the resurrection. This was the first sculpture to be installed on
the Passion façade and is signed Subirachs 30 in 1987.
The Portal
of Faith presents the Gate of Gethsemane, 4.41 m high by 2.40 m wide,
dedicated to the prayer of Jesus in the olive garden. We see images of
Jesus praying, while his disciples sleep; In the upper left part the
night sky appears with the full moon, as a harbinger of death. At the
bottom there is a polyhedron from the engraving The Melancholy, by
Albrecht Dürer, and the inscription «Jesus fell on his face, praying: my
father, if it is possible, take this chalice from me; but let it be done
not as I want, but as you want" (Matthew 26, 39).
The portal of
Hope presents the Gate of the Crowning of Thorns, 5 m high and 2.40 m
wide. Here Jesus appears mocked with the crown of thorns, the cloak and
the reed, as a mockery of his status as king, next to the inscription
"And the soldiers wove a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and
they dressed him with a purple cloak; and they said to him: “Hail, king
of the Jews”; and they slapped him” (John 19, 2). In another scene,
Jesus is brought before Herod and Pilate, who appear facing each other
symmetrically, as if seen in a mirror. It also includes a quote from The
Divine Comedy by Dantenota 19 and a poem from La pell de brau (The
Bull's Skin) by Salvador Espriu.
The sculptural cycle of the
Passion is installed on three levels, following an ascending order in
the shape of an S, to reproduce the Calvary of Jesus:
Lower level:
contains the scenes of Jesus' last night before the crucifixion.
Starting from the left, The Last Supper presents Jesus with the twelve
apostles, at the moment when Judas will betray him, with the inscription
"What you are going to do, do it quickly" (John 13, 27). Jesus has his
back to the viewer, unlike in traditional representations of this scene.
Judas stretches out his arm to hide the thirty coins of his betrayal,
while, at his feet, a sleeping dog represents fidelity. Peter and the
Soldiers is the moment when Peter cuts off the ear of Malchus, the
servant of the High Priest, that appears on an olive branch. Together
with this scene appears The Kiss of Judas, where the figures are roughly
carved to suggest a night vision; Behind Judas, there is the snake that
symbolizes the devil. Next to this scene is a magic square of sixteen
figures that, adding four of them in any direction, always gives
thirty-three, the age of Christ at death; Three hundred and ten
different combinations can be made. On the other hand, adding the only
two figures that are repeated (10 and 14) gives 48, the same number as
the word INRI when adding the equivalence of its letters in numbers
according to the Latin alphabet. (A=1, B=2, etc). On the right side,
The Denial of Peter appears first, which contains three figures of women
that represent the three times that Peter denied Jesus, along with a
rooster that announces the sunrise; the apostle is wrapped in a sheet as
a symbol of his cowardice. Next to this scene, a labyrinth is located,
as a symbol of the inscrutability of divine designs, while representing
Jesus' path to Calvary. In Ecce Homo, Jesus is presented with the crown
of thorns, guarded by two soldiers and with the figure of a Pilate
doubting what he should do; At the feet of the Nazarene the stone is
cracked, representing the earthquake that is going to occur. Next to
this scene there is a column with the Roman eagle and the inscription
"Tiberius Imperator". The last scene of this level is The Trial of
Jesus, in which Pilate washes his hands assisted by three servants,
along with a soldier and the figure of Procula, Pilate's wife, who walks
away from the scene after failing in her attempt. to intercede for the
prisoner, whom he had seen in a dream (Matthew 27, 19).
Medium level:
represents the Calvary of Jesus. The Three Marys and Simon of Cyrene
appear first, in which the Cyrenean helps Jesus with the cross,
surrounded by the Virgin, Mary Magdalene and Mary of Cleopas. Next, La
Verónica shows the face of Jesus marked in negative on the cloth of the
woman who wiped his sweat; The figure of Veronica has no face so as not
to interfere with the image of Jesus. It is the largest scene, with
seventeen figures. The figure of Veronica is made of travertine, while
the rest of the figures are made of sandstone. Here, Subirachs pays
homage to Gaudí, giving his physiognomy to the figure of the evangelist
located on the left, as well as in the shape of the soldiers' helmets,
which evoke the chimneys of the Milà house. The cycle closes with the
soldier Longinus, the centurion who stabbed Jesus with his spear
although he later converted to Christianity. He appears on a horse, with
a helmet and a spear in his hand.
Upper level: depicts the death and
burial of Jesus. The level begins with Soldiers playing dice in the
garments of Jesus, three figures of legionaries around a table shaped
like an astragalus, the lamb bone from which the dice game emerged. In
the central part, The crucifixion is the main scene of the portico, with
Jesus hanging on the cross - which has four arms, like the typically
Gaudinian ones, but placed horizontally -, which is made of iron, with
an I painted in red on the central beam, symbol of the INRI; The three
Marys and Saint John appear again, and a skull - a symbol of death and
Golgotha -, a rock and a moon, which represents the night, also appear
in the scene. The scene is asymmetrical, as it places all the figures on
the left, while the right is empty, to accentuate the drama of the
scene. At 5 m high, the figure of Jesus is the largest in the entire
complex. Above this scene is The Torn Veil, a bronze structure that
represents the veil of the temple in Jerusalem, which was torn at the
death of Jesus. . Finally, on the right, is The Burial, where Joseph of
Arimathea and Nicodemus appear depositing the body of Jesus in the tomb,
next to the Virgin Mary and an egg, a symbol of the resurrection. The
effigy of Nicodemus is a self-portrait by the sculptor Subirachs.
On both sides of the façade, at the height of the middle level,
there are two tribunes described by Gaudí as "councils", since they were
to house the "secret" scenes of the Passion of Christ. They are two
cantilevered bodies of a prismatic shape, supported by pyramidal bodies
and closed with lattices, which house chambers accessible from the first
floor of the interior. These rooms had to be decorated with the
aforementioned secret scenes: the meeting of the priests, scribes and
Pharisees who plotted the death of Jesus; and the scene in which Judas
throws at the feet of these priests the thirty-three coins that they
paid him for his betrayal. At the moment, these scenes have not been
executed.
In the upper arch of the atrium there are two mosaics
made before the intervention of Subirachs, the work of Jordi Vila i
Rufas. In the central portal, above the Crucifixion, there is a mosaic
that was later covered by The Torn Veil. It has a central panel with a
lamb and the Greek letters alpha and omega, and four other panels with
phrases from the Good Friday liturgy, two in Latin and two in Catalan:
«Nulla silva talem profert fronde, flore, germine», «Flecte bouquets,
arbor alta", "Quan per menjar el fruit d'Efes" and "A la plenitude del
temps profetitzat". The second is found in the portal of Faith, next to
the group of Soldiers playing dice on the garments of Jesus: it is a
small mosaic with the legend Dulce lignum, part of a stanza of the hymn
Crux fidelis by Venancio Fortunato: «Dulce lignum , sweet cloves, Dulce
pondus sustinet" ("Oh sweet wood, sweet nails that supported such a
sweet weight!").
Above this portal is a pediment formed by a set
of eighteen columns, on which is a cornice of hexagonal prisms, with a
chrismon in its central part with the inscription Iesus Nazarenus Rex
Iudæorum. The colonnade and the cymbal with the chrismon were completed
in 2016. In the intercolumnium of the pediment, a program related to the
biblical prophets and patriarchs is developed, which continues with the
same symbology of faith, hope and charity: the patriarchs represent
faith ; the prophets, hope; and the central part, dedicated to the
Resurrection, symbolizes charity. The walls with the names of the
patriarchs and prophets, a work designed by Subirachs and sculpted by
his assistant Bruno Gallart, were completed in 2005. In principle, the
prophets and patriarchs should have been images, but the sculptor
preferred to make a mural with the names so as not to overload the
Passion façade and hinder the vision of the passion cycle of Jesus shown
at the bottom. Thus, these biblical figures have been represented by
Subirachs with their names - and some with their corresponding symbols -
in the form of an arabesque, engraved in a relief 36 m long and 5.5 m
high.
Patriarchs: Adam and Eve (with the snake and the tree with
the apple of original sin), Abel, Enoch, Noah (with a wavy line that
represents the flood), Methuselah (with the number 969, the years he
lived according to the Bible ), Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebekah, Jacob
(with Jacob's ladder), Leah, Rachel, Judah, David, Hezekiah, Josiah.
Prophets: Moses (with the tables of the law), Zipporah, Aaron, Balaam,
Deborah, Samuel, Nathan, Elijah (with a tongue of fire), Isaiah,
Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Jonah (with the inscription of the city of
Nineveh and its Sumero-Akkadian pictogram, a fish inside a house) and
Zechariah (with angel wings); At the end the names Zion and Jerusalem
appear along with a representation of their walls.
In the two
lateral acrotheries of the pediment there are two animal figures: the
sacrificial lamb of Abraham and the lion of Judah, conqueror of death,
both prefigurations of Jesus. These figures, the work of Lau Feliu, were
placed on the 14th of December 2017.
In the central part of the
intercolumnium is the sculptural group of the Empty Sepulcher, the work
of Francesc Fajula, placed in April 2018. It represents the tomb where
Jesus was buried and from which he resurrected: next to the entrance is
the round stone that covered it. , on which sits the angel announcing
the resurrection to the Three Marys, who are located on the left side.
This group is in relation to the window that represents the Resurrection
of Jesus, located on a wall of the side nave, a work by Joan Vila-Grau,
resolved in the form of a large window made up of fifteen stained glass
windows. The angel who announces the resurrection points with his right
arm towards this window.
In the central acrotherium there is a
large cross to top the pediment, 7.5 m high and 4.25 m wide, made of
18-ton tensioned stone. It is made with a double twist, with a square
base and finials and the central part of an octagonal shape, while the
tips are pyramidal in shape. It is a triumphal cross, so it does not
have the image of Christ represented. At the feet of the cross there are
three angels, the work of Lau Feliu, one in an attitude of veneration,
another caressing the cross and another holding a chalice with the blood
of Christ. The cross is made of granite, while the angels are made of
travertine. It was placed on July 2, 2018.
On the inside of the
pediment, in the space between it and the bell towers, the quarry
located next to Calvary has been reproduced, where the tomb of Jesus was
excavated and which later became a garden (John 19, 41-42 ). The quarry
is represented by large blocks of coarse stone and the orchard by
various plant species located at the foot of these blocks (strawberry,
violet, snowdrops, myrtle and fern). The L'Obrador landscape team has
participated in its design.
Above the pediment is the Holy
Spirit, a sculpture by Subirachs inspired by a dove, but with almost
abstract shapes, installed in 2001. It is made of travertine, with
dimensions of 2.54 × 3.06 m. Finally, it is Find the Ascension of Jesus,
on the bridge that joins the towers of Saint Bartholomew and Saint
Thomas, 60 m high from the façade, also the work of Subirachs. It is
made of bronze and is 6 m high. Installed in 2005, it represents Jesus
dressed in a tunic with open hands.
The figures of the apostles
on the towers are also the work of Subirachs, made of travertine stone
3.25 m high. They were placed between February and October 2000. James
the Less is represented with a bishop's staff, since he was
traditionally the first bishop of Jerusalem; Saint Bartholomew appears
with a knife, a symbol of his martyrdom - he was skinned, hence his
anatomy is revealed - as well as a scroll, since he was the author of an
apocryphal gospel; Saint Thomas is shown in a doubtful attitude, since
he had to touch Jesus to believe in his resurrection; and Saint Philip
holds a book in his hands, a symbol of the preaching that he carried out
in Asia Minor.
In front of the Passion Facade, Gaudí planned in
1916 to place a monument to the bishop of Vic Josep Torras i Bages, a
recently deceased friend of his. The architect made a sketch of the
project and a plaster bust of the bishop was made, the work of Joan
Matamala. However, the project was finally not carried out and the bust
was destroyed in 1936. In 2014, during the First World Congress on Gaudí
held at the University of Barcelona, the architect Jordi Bonet i
Armengol announced the future realization of This project, initially
scheduled for the completion of the façade works in 2016, although at
the moment the project has been delayed. The monument, 20 m high and
made of stone (the base) and bronze (the shaft), will be made up of a
sculpture of the bishop writing and will have three legs dedicated to
theological virtues (faith, hope and charity), such as facade.
The Gloria façade will be the largest and most monumental. It is the
main façade, which gives access to the central nave. Work began in 2002.
Dedicated to the heavenly Glory of Jesus, it represents the ascension
path to God: Death, the Last Judgment and Glory, as well as Hell, for
anyone who deviates from the dictates of God. Gaudí outlined just the
general lines of this façade, since he was aware that it would not be
done by him during his lifetime, but by those who continued his work:
I will not complete or develop the model fragment of the bell towers on
the main façade. I have decided to leave it only programmed so that
another generation can collaborate in the temple, as is repeatedly seen
in the history of cathedrals, whose facades are not only by other
authors, but also by other styles.
To access the portico of Glory
there will be a large staircase with a terrace where the Monument to
Fire and Water will be located, the first represented with a large pot
with fire - representing the column of fire that guided the chosen
people - and the second with a water fountain, with a 20 m high jet that
will be divided into four waterfalls, as a symbol of the rivers of
earthly paradise and the sources of living water of the Apocalypse.
The staircase will create an underground passage on Mallorca Street,
which would represent Hell and vice, and would be decorated with demons,
idols, false gods, schisms, heresies and other representations of evil.
Purgatory will also appear, as well as death, represented in tombs
located on the floor of the porch. Representing the condemnation to work
suffered by man after original sin, there will be representations of
various trades in a portal on the main façade: tailor, shoemaker,
bricklayer, baker, blacksmith, potter, carpenter, etc. Through work and
cultivating virtue, man can achieve Glory, through redemption and
through the intermediation of the Holy Spirit. Thus, the porch will have
seven large columns dedicated to the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit; The
seven capital sins will appear at its bases and, on the capitals, the
seven virtues:
Gifts: Piety, Fortitude, Intelligence, Wisdom,
Counsel, Science, Fear of God.
Sins: Greed, Sloth, Anger, Envy,
Gluttony, Pride, Lust.
Virtues: Generosity, Diligence, Patience,
Charity, Temperance, Humility, Chastity.
Likewise, there are
seven doors dedicated to the sacraments and the requests of the Lord's
Prayer:
Baptism: "Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Your
Name."
Extreme unction: "Your Kingdom come."
Priestly Order: "Thy
will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven."
Eucharist: "Give us today
our daily bread."
Confirmation: "Forgive us our trespasses, just as
we forgive those who trespass against us."
Marriage: "Do not lead us
into temptation."
Penance: "And deliver us from evil."
The
first and last, of Baptism and Penance, will coincide with the two side
chapels of the Glory façade, which will intersect with the cloister. The
Beatitudes and the corporal and spiritual Works of Mercy will also
appear on the façade. Likewise, Adam and Eve will be represented, as the
origin of the human being; Saint Joseph in his work as a carpenter;
Faith, Hope and Charity, represented by the Ark of the Covenant, Noah's
Ark and the House of Nazareth; the Virgin Mary, surrounded by angels,
saints, prophets, patriarchs, apostles, martyrs, priests, confessors,
virgins and widows; and Jesus at the Last Judgment, with the Holy Spirit
in the form of a rose window and God the Father, forming the august
Trinity.
The façade will be completed with large illuminated
clouds that will contain in large letters the Nicene Creed (Credo in
unum Deum Patrem Omnipotentem, creatorem coeli et terrae), located on
sixteen large lanterns of hyperboloid shape and ending in a cone,
arranged in ascending order: the The lower seven will represent the days
of creation and the upper nine will represent the angelic hierarchies.
The towers will be the tallest of the three facades and will be
dedicated to Saint Peter, Saint Paul, Saint Andrew and Saint James the
Greater.
On April 22, 2007, a sculpture of Saint George was
installed on the railing of the jubé - on the inner side of the Gloria
façade - coinciding with the proclamation of the 550th anniversary of
the saint as patron saint of Catalonia and within the framework of the
acts celebrating the 125th anniversary of the laying of the temple's
first stone. Work by Subirachs, the statue is made of bronze, three
meters high, and is inspired by Donatello's Saint George.
Likewise, between 2008 and 2012, the doors of the Glory façade were
installed, made in bronze by Subirachs with the help of the sculptor
Bruno Gallart, with the inscriptions of the Lord's Prayer. The main one,
made up of two bronze sheets weighing two tons each, presents the
complete prayer, in Catalan, as well as its second paragraph ("Give us
today our daily bread") in fifty different languages. It should be noted
that the letters A and G of the word caiguem - corresponding to the door
handles - are highlighted in gold, as they are the initials of Antoni
Gaudí, as a tribute to the architect. The rest of the doors each have
their own corresponding request of the prayer. Each door has a symbol
that represents its respective sacrament: baptism, a jug of water and a
baptismal font; last unction, a laying on of hands; the priestly order,
an imposition of hands by the bishop; the eucharist, the chalice and the
host - in this case located in the glass above the door; confirmation,
by the coming of the Holy Spirit; marriage, some rings; and, penance, a
cross.
Gaudí designed a temple with great verticality, so that it would be
visible from any point in Barcelona and stand out from the rest of the
buildings. For this, he provided the Holy Family with eighteen towers:
twelve for the apostles, four for the evangelists and the domes of Jesus
and the Virgin Mary. They have different heights, in an ascending
direction: the Nativity towers, the outer ones 98.40 m and the central
ones 107 m; those of the Passion, 107.40 m the outer ones and 112.20 m
the central ones; those of Gloria, 112.20 m for the outer ones and 120 m
for the central ones; those of the evangelists, 135 m; that of the
Virgin, 138 m; note 24 and that of Jesus, 172.50 m.
The Nativity
towers have a square base that becomes circular at mid-height, where he
placed a balcony and a pedestal with the figure of the apostle as a
transition element. They are supported by twelve sandstone ribs, which
form long vertical openings between which are some inclined pieces of
stone, which serve both to prevent the entry of water and to distribute
the sound of the bells. On the other hand, those of The Passion are of
elliptical section. For their part, the towers of the evangelists will
be formed by eight segments of intersected paraboloids; that of Mary,
fourteen segments; and, that of Jesus, twelve. Gaudí said that "the
shape of the towers, vertical and parabolic, is the union of gravity
with light."
The tops of the towers have different solutions
depending on their typology: those of the apostles are topped by
pinnacles of polychrome Venetian mosaic with shields with the cross and
white spheres, which symbolize the episcopal miter; The episcopal ring
and staff also appear, as well as the initial letter of each apostle.
Likewise, there are various inscriptions such as Hosanna, Excelsis and
the trisage Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus, repeated three times by the Holy
Trinity: that of the Father in yellow color, due to light; that of the
Son in red, symbol of martyrdom; and, that of the Holy Spirit, orange, a
synthesis of the other two. Apparently, for the pinnacles of the towers
Gaudí was inspired by the stems of a plant called cat's claws (sedum
nicaeensis). Each tower has an inscription the Latin name and the word
Apostolus along with a sculpture of the apostle it represents. Likewise,
each apostle is related to a zodiacal constellation, according to the
correspondence established by Bede the Venerable in the 8th century:
Saint Peter would be Aries, Saint Andrew would be Taurus, and so on.
The towers act as a bell tower and will contain a total of
eighty-four bells, common and tubular: on the Nativity façade, tubular
percussion bells; in that of the Passion, tubular bells of resonant
organ; and, in the Gloria, bells tuned with the notes E, G, C. Gaudí
carried out complicated acoustic studies to achieve perfect sound.
Inside the towers there are spiral staircases inspired again by an
organic element, a type of sea snail called turret (turritella
communis).
The towers of the evangelists are topped by the
allegorical figures that represent them in Christian iconography
(Tetramorphs): Saint John, the eagle; Saint Mark, the lion; Saint
Matthew, the angel; and Saint Luke, the ox. The project for these
figures was the work of the sculptor Xavier Medina Campeny. The
terminals of the towers have a height of 22.5 m, composed of three
different parts: the base is formed by four lines of hexagons with the
inscriptions Al·leluia and Amen surrounded by ceramic palms in the shape
of a spike; In the central part there is an icosahedron intersected with
a sphere covered with ceramic trencadis and Venetian glass, which
contains the lighting focuses; and, as a finishing touch, there are the
sculptures of the Tetramorphs, winged and with an evangelical book with
the initials of each evangelist. These towers will have two spotlights
each, which at night will illuminate the street and the tower,
respectively.
Likewise, these towers contain gargoyles, made by
Etsuro Sotoo, in four-meter granite, with various shapes that symbolize
the evangelists: that of John presents seven scrolls, like those written
in the Apocalypse; Mateo's is shaped like a money bag, in reference to
his job as a tax collector; Mark's is in the form of a sheet, in
reference to a young man who was seen running naked with a sheet that
flew away from him, the night Jesus was arrested; and Lucas's is a
doctor's bag, with its corresponding instruments. Likewise, they are
related to the signs of the Zodiac, the four elements and the four
stages of the path to knowledge.
Mary's tower is located above
the apse and is topped by a large twelve-point star, which symbolizes
the morning star. In addition, it carries several iconographic elements
alluding to the Virgin, such as the Hail Mary and various flowers as a
symbol of the attributes of the mother of Jesus. These elements are
found at the base of the tower, between the windows, grouping a phrase
and a flower: Ave Maria gratia plena, lily as a symbol of chastity;
Dominus tecum, narcissus as a symbol of eternal life and the triumph of
divine love; Benedicta tu in mulieribus, lily of the valley as a symbol
of humility; and Benedictus fructus ventrus tus Iesus, jasmine as a
symbol of purity. The crown of the tower consists of three parts: the
crown, made of stone and 6 m high, with twelve wrought-iron stars at the
top; the lantern, 18 m high, made of concrete with a white and blue
trencadis coating, in the shape of a hyperboloid and ending in three
arms that support the upper star; and the star, a twelve-pointed
dodecahedron with a diameter of 7.5 m, made of textured glass with a
stainless steel structure, illuminated from the inside.
Finally,
the tower of Jesus will be connected by four bridges with the towers of
the evangelists and will be topped by a large cross with six arms,
measuring 13.5 m: in its central part there will be a lamb, as well as
the inscription Tu solus Sanctus , Tu solus Dominus, Tu solus Altissimus
and the words Amen and Hallelujah. Each of the four arms of the cross
will have powerful beams of light that will be visible from great
distances, in remembrance of the biblical passage that defines Jesus as
"I am the light of the world" (John, 8:12). In its Inside, the tower of
Jesus will be divided into three floors, which will symbolize the
creation of the universe and the phrase related to Christ "I am the Way,
the Truth and the Life" (John, 14:6). On the interior walls there will
be a glazed ceramic mosaic that will run through the entire tower up to
half height, which will represent the firmament as a creation of God, as
well as the Holy Spirit; It is being projected by Etsuro Sotoo.
Of the set of six central towers, the tower of Jesus began to be built
in 2015 and the remaining ones in 2016, after preparing their base on
the central nave of the temple. The works on the tower of Mary finished
on December 29. November 2021 with the placement of the star on the top
of the tower, and it was inaugurated on December 8 with a series of
cultural events. Of the towers of the evangelists, the first two,
dedicated to Luke and Mark, were completed with the placement of their
respective sculptures in November 2022. On December 16 of that year they
were illuminated for the first time. Those of Juan and Mateo were
completed in September 2023 again with the placement of their
sculptures. The tower of Jesús it is estimated that it could be
completed in 2026.
According to the construction team's
forecasts, when the structure of the towers is ready, the Sagrada
Familia will be the tallest building in Barcelona.
On the outside, the cloister stands out, which surrounds almost the
entire perimeter of the temple, only interrupted by the main façade,
that of the Glory, which is why it is U-shaped, measuring 115 × 82.5 m.
This solution The original design designed by Gaudí contrasts with the
traditional arrangement of the cloister in the atrium of early Christian
basilicas or located on one side of the church in medieval monasteries
and cathedrals. He did this to isolate the temple from the outside—both
acoustically and climatically—and encourage processional transit. Like
the rest of the project, it is located four meters above ground level
and its total length will be 240 m.
For the windows on the
exterior walls, Gaudí devised three different typologies, to achieve a
transition from the original neo-Gothic to the new naturalistic
structure applied in his later years: the first level, under the
cantory, is neo-Gothic; the second, on the cantories, presents an
elliptical hyperboloid surrounded by four circular ones, on a frieze of
elongated openings; The third, which corresponds to the central nave,
also has an elliptical hyperboloid surrounded by two hyperboloids of
revolution, also on four elongated openings, with the Gloriam
inscription appearing in the center.
Between the windows of the
side naves there are Solomonic columns with the inscriptions aurum,
thus, myrrham (in Latin, gold, incense and myrrh) and oració, sacrifici,
almoina (in Catalan, prayer, sacrifice and alms), and topped by the
Greek letters α (alpha) and ω (omega). Other inscriptions also alternate
on the exterior walls, such as Jesus, Mary, Joseph; Sursum corda Full
gratia; Ora pro nobis.
The windows of the side naves end in a
pediment, the apex of which is crowned by a basket of fruits (apples,
figs, oranges, peaches, almonds, plums, pomegranates, cherries, pears,
persimmons, chestnuts and medlars), which symbolize the rain of fruits
of the Holy Spirit that falls on men. For their part, the pinnacles of
the central nave present the symbols of the Eucharist: grains of grapes
crowned by a chalice and ears of wheat crowned by a host. They are also
Various trades represented (carpenters, painters, dyers, weavers,
goldsmiths, blacksmiths, builders, potters, glassmakers and
coppersmiths), each symbolized by the objects that most represent them.
The fruits and trades are the work of Etsuro Sotoo. In the mullion above
each window there are Founding Saints (from Birth to Passion): Saint
Jerome, Saint Ignatius of Loyola, Saint Joseph of Calasanz, Saint
Vincent de Paul, Saint Philip Neri, Saint Joan of Lestonnac, Saint
Joseph Manyanet, Saint Joseph Oriol , Saint John Bosco, Saint Joaquina
de Vedruna, Saint Antonio María Claret and Saint Pedro Nolasco.
At the intersections of the cloister with the facades Gaudí designed
portals dedicated to the Virgin: on both sides of the Nativity façade,
the Virgin of the Rosary and that of Montserrat; on the façade of the
Passion, the Virgin of Mercy and that of Sorrows. Especially notable is
that of the Rosary, which Gaudí chose to demonstrate how the decoration
of the rest of the temple should be. The portal is presided over by the
Virgin and Child, flanked by Saint Dominic and Saint Catherine. Other
scenes reproduce: the Death of the Just Man, with the Virgin showing the
Infant Jesus to a dying man, to provide him relief; the Temptation of
Woman, represented by a fish-shaped monster offering a woman a bag of
money; and the Temptation of Man, symbolized by a devil offering a
worker an Orsini bomb, used by anarchists at that time. On each side of
the door are Kings David and Solomon and the prophets Isaac and Jacob.
Likewise, there is a great profusion of roses that adorn the entire
porch, and phrases such as the last words of the Ave Maria: Et in hora
mortis nostrae, Amen. The sculptures on the portal, the work of Llorenç
Matamala, suffered serious damage during the Civil War and they were
restored between 1982 and 1983 by Etsuro Sotoo. On the outside, this
portal is topped by a lantern whose pinnacle is shaped like an aloe bud
(Aloe arborescens).
In the four corners of the temple there will
be three obelisks each, representing the cardinal points, the four
seasons, the Christian fasts (Témporas), related, in turn, to the
priestly orders, the cardinal virtues represented symbolically, as well
as symbols of Saint Joseph (lily), the Virgin Mary (crown) and Jesus
(varying in each group). Finally, each central obelisk will carry three
of the twelve stanzas of Daniel's hymn of the children of Babylon (Trium
puerorum), one of the lateral ones Sancte Joseph, Ora pro nobis and, the
other, Sancta Dei Genitrix, Ora pro nobis, Deo gratias. They have a
hyperboloid shape in their central part, while the upper part is a
truncated triangular pyramid with three final semicones.
Gaudí evolved from a first neo-Gothic project towards a personal,
organic style, inspired by the shapes of nature: to get rid of the
Gothic buttresses, he devised the use of columns in the shape of tree
trunks, which allow the weight of the roofs to be unloaded directly on
the floor, a practical as well as aesthetic solution, since it turns the
interior of the temple's naves into an organic space that resembles a
forest. In 1987, the foundation of the naves began; In 1997, the side
vaults were completed and the central one was started, completed in
2000; With the vaults of the transept and the apse, in 2010 the entire
temple was covered.
The interior of the temple will be like a
forest. (...) The pillars of the main nave will be palm trees; They are
the trees of glory, sacrifice and martyrdom. Those in the side naves
will be laurels, trees of glory, of intelligence.
Antoni Gaudí
Gaudí carried out the calculation of the main nave using graphic
statics, which was published by his assistant Sugrañes in 1923. From
1985 it was necessary to expand them and adapt them to current
regulations, so a team of architects formed by Carles Buxadé, Joan
Margarit , Josep Gómez, Ramón Ferrando and Ágata Buxadé calculated all
the naves, conceiving a continuous reinforced concrete structure from
the foundations to the vaults.
The temple has a Latin cross plan,
with five naves 90 m long and a transept with three naves 60 m long; The
central nave has a width of 15 m, and the sides are 7.5 m, making a
total of 45 m; width of the transept, 30 m. The height is 45 m in the
vaults of the central nave and 30 m in the side ones, while those in the
transept reach 60 m. Gaudí structured the entire floor based on a
fundamental module of 7.5 m, which for him was the measure of the ideal
"tree-man", the perfect proportion given by nature. The Greeks already
established a standard measurement of the human body where the head
would be 1/7 or 1/8 of the total; Thus, 7.5 is the average between both.
Thus we see that the length of the temple is 90 m (7.5 × 12), that of
the transept 60 (7.5 × 8), the width of the temple 45 (7.5 × 6), that of
the transept 30 (7, 5 × 4), and that the total height of the building—in
the Jesus tower—is 172.5 m (7.5 × 23).
The side naves contain the
cantories for the choirs. The apse is lobed, with an ambulatory around
the presbytery. It has seven chapels, of which the one of the Blessed
Sacrament is used as an oratory: it has an altar made of stone from
Montserrat, on which there is a silver tabernacle surrounded by an aura
of light and, above it, a copy of the relief of the Holy Family drawn up
by Josep Llimona that is in the crypt. The tabernacle is the work of
Joaquim Capdevila and presents a relief of vertical lines that resemble
ears of wheat, along with a cross and the phrase "I am life"; Inside the
lid there is a sacred shape that in turn represents the world,
surrounded by smaller ones with a cross in the center, on a golden
background.
The temple contains a total of 36 columns, ranging
between 11.10 m and 22.20 m in height, with bases of multi-sided star
polygons depending on their location: six (side naves), eight (central
nave), ten (towers of the Evangelists), twelve (tower of Jesus). The
construction materials vary from Montjuïc stone to granite, basalt or
porphyry for the coverings, on a reinforced concrete structure. They
have a double-turning helical shape (right-handed and left-handed),
similar to the growth of some trees or bushes: a A possible source of
inspiration would be species such as the abelia (Abelia floribunda) or
the oleander (Nerium oleander). These columns bifurcate at the height of
the capital - in an ellipsoid shape - and branch again at a higher
height, so they certainly resemble trees.
For the vaults, in the
shape of hyperboloids, Gaudí used the construction technique of the
Catalan vault or "partitioned vault", which consists of the
superimposition of several layers of bricks with mortar. The skylights
of the vaults contain symbols made of glass. colors: on the side vaults,
the symbols of Jesus, Mary and Joseph; in the central one, the chrismon
of Christ with his attributes (cross, scepter, sword and sign of
infinity). The domed vault of the apse is covered with a golden mosaic
that represents the garments of God covering the celestial vault, the
work of the ceramist Jordi Aguadé. It is a hyperboloid of 17.5 m in
diameter, made with two basic geometric shapes: a triangle (God) within
a circle (the world as creation). Between the folds of the garments,
heads of seraphim appear, while that between the support columns appears
the trisagion Holy, Holy, Holy, in yellow, red and orange, for the
Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Finally, the dome of the transept
represents the Throne of God and the Lamb , composed of a central
skylight of hyperboloidal shape, 4 m in diameter, surrounded by golden
rays; It is flanked by another twenty-four skylights, arranged in two
concentric circles of twelve, which symbolize the twenty-four elders
described in the book of Revelation 4, 6-10. Above this dome is a large
room, called the "cruise room", which will be the first level of access
to the tower of Jesus Christ. It is circular, 20 m high, with steps
around the central skylight, covered in tiles and red Venetian glass on
the roof. It was built between 2010 and 2014.
The roofs are
pyramidal in shape, crowned by a lantern. The windows are designed to
distribute soft and harmonious lighting, creating a secluded effect, and
have an abstract geometric shape. Gaudí carried out in-depth acoustic
and lighting studies to achieve perfect sound and lighting inside the
temple. Likewise, he designed the lamps, furniture and liturgical
objects of the Sagrada Familia: sacristy cabinets, officiants' benches,
faldistoria, pulpits, confessionals, tenebrariums, lecterns, stands for
paschal candles, etc.
Like the exterior, the interior has great
religious significance, with three roads that represent various
concepts: from the façade of Glory to the apse it symbolizes the Way of
Humanity (Via Humanitatis); from the façade of the Nativity to that of
the Passion, the Way of Jesus Christ (Via Christi); and the cloister
represents the Way of the Church (Via Ecclesiae). In turn, the naves of
the temple represent the Church Militant, the crypt the penitent and the
central altar the triumphant. On the other hand, the Holy Family
represents the New Jerusalem, the Celestial Jerusalem, for which Gaudí
based himself on the book of Revelation (verses 21 and 22): just as in
the biblical text the New Jerusalem comes down from heaven and dwells
among humanity, the Holy Family It is located in Barcelona, which
symbolizes all the people on the planet.
For the central altar,
Gaudí's project contemplated that a seven-armed lamp would hang from the
highest clerestory of the apse, symbolizing the Holy Spirit. The altar
is framed by a triumphal arch formed by the columns of Peter and Paul,
and their branches that join in the hyperboloid of the vault. These
columns have a ring each with an inscription: Peter, pastor of the
Church and Paul, apostle of our people. From these rings hangs the
baldachin that covers the altar, which has the Glory song of the
Ordinary of the Mass inscribed. It has the shape of a heptagon, made
of metal about five meters in diameter, from which bunches of grapes (in
glass), vine leaves (in copper) and spikes (in white wood) hang, with
parchment sides and a tapestry cover. , all covered in twenty-two carat
gold leaf. On the parchments, the work of the nuns of the monastery of
San Benito de Marganell, the Gifts of the Holy Spirit (Wisdom,
Intelligence, Council, Fortitude, Science, Pity and Fear of God), work
of the calligrapher Josep Batlle. Fifty lamps hang from the baldachin—as
in Saint John Lateran—, as well as a 1.90 m figure of crucified Christ,
the work of Francesc Fajula, sculpted according to a design that Gaudí
made for the oratory of the Batlló house, made at that time by Carles
Mani. The altar is made up of a block of Iranian porphyry 3 m long and
weighing 7,500 kg. Next to the altar, the episcopal stalls were placed,
which have the names of the three holy bishops of the archdiocese of
Barcelona engraved: Saint Severus, Saint Pacian and Saint Olegario, in
addition to the theological and cardinal virtues and, in the center, a
dove representing the Holy Spirit, the work of Francesc Fajula. To the
left of the presbytery there is a porphyry ambo, the work of Jordi
Bonet, with the inscription "word of God"; Behind it, there is a support
for an Easter candle designed by Gaudí.
In the triforiums
corresponding to the façades of the Birth and the Passion there are
Saint Joseph and Saint Mary, sculptures made by Ramón Cuello; with the
crucifix on the altar, they complete the Holy Family. In the skylights
of the vaults there are glass diffusers with anagrams of Jesus, Joseph
and Mary in the side naves, and the chrismon and the attributes of
Christ (cross, scepter, sword and sign of infinity) in the central one,
the work of Antoni Vila. The Gospel also appears inside through the
mass of each Sunday of the year, with the corresponding epistles
(Advent, Christmas, Septuagesima, Lent, Easter and Pentecost); Prayer is
also represented with the canonical Hours, each with its final hymn:
Matins: Miserere (Psalm 51/50) and Te Deum laudamus, in the chantries
and under the central dome.
Lauds: Benedictus Dominus Jesus Israel
(Luke 1, 68-79), inside the Passion façade.
Vespers: Magnificat (Luke
1, 46-55), in the apse.
Compline: Nunc dimitis (chant of Simeon),
inside the façade of the Nativity.
The columns inside have varied
symbols: the four in the transept are dedicated to the evangelists, the
twelve that surround the transept to the apostles (Saint Peter and Saint
Paul next to the altar) and the rest to the bishoprics who continued the
work. apostolic: those of Catalonia (Barcelona, Tarragona, Lérida,
Gerona, Vic, Urgel, Solsona, Tortosa and Perpignan) in the transept;
from the rest of Spain (Mallorca, Valencia, Zaragoza, Granada, Burgos,
Seville, Valladolid, Toledo and Santiago) in the central nave; and, on
the sides, the five continents.
The windows inside the temple are
covered with stained glass, designed by the Catalan glassmaker Joan
Vila-Grau between 1999 and 2016. He used glass of different colors to
represent various themes. The stained glass windows of the transepts
were the first to be installed, following Gaudí's original idea. The
lower side stained glass windows represent the saints and sanctuaries of
the dioceses represented on the columns in front of the windows. In the
upper stained glass windows the parables of Jesus appear (from the
façade of Glory, Birth side, to Glory, Passion side): I am forgiveness,
I am the good Samaritan, I am the good shepherd, I am the truth, I am
the way, I am the life, I am the source of living water, I am the light,
I am the door, I I am the sower, I am the one who speaks to you, I am
the bread of life, I am the alpha and omega. The stained glass windows
in the apse symbolize the Advent antiphons; those in the Passion
transept represent water, the resurrection and light; and those of the
transept of the Birth poverty, birth and life. The windows of the
central nave lack color—they are different textures (printed glass) of
translucent glass—since they were made with clear glass to symbolize
purity and allow greater entry of light.
On the interior overhang
there will be the Eucharistic symbol of the fish, some swimming towards
the altar with their mouths open and others returning with the Sacred
Form in their mouths, like faithful thirsty for the Eucharist. Above
the cantories there are twenty-four polychrome ceramic monstrances,
3,325 m meters high each, which present the Sacred Form in its upper
part, as a twin of half a hyperboloid with a horizontal axis, with a
spherical cap and surrounded by pyramids and a hyperboloid body with a
vertical axis with three windows, in whose interior is a chalice; They
are the work of ceramists Jordi Aguadé and Antoni Cumella. Likewise, in
the middle of the branches of the columns there will be flamboyants,
amphorae and symbols of Christ.
In 2010, the interior of the
temple was finished being covered, allowing it to be dedicated as a
basilica by Pope Benedict XVI on November 7 of that year. For this
event, several works recently created following Gaudí's instructions
were inaugurated: inside the Passion Portal, a bas-relief about the
Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, the work of Domènec Fita, was placed on
the floor slabs; The sculptures of Saint Joseph (on the Nativity side)
and the Virgin Mary (on the Passion side) by Ramón Cuello, made of
travertine and with a height of 2.80 m, were installed in the transept;
and the decoration of the capitals of the central columns of the
transept was placed, those of Saint Peter and Saint Paul - with their
symbols, keys and a sword and a book, respectively -, and those of the
four evangelists, with the signs of the Tetramorphs framed by a
methacrylate ellipsoid, the work of Domènec Fita. The altar and
episcopal seating were also placed and, above the altar, the hanging
canopy was installed, with the figure of crucified Christ by Francesc
Fajula. Finally, an organ was installed, built in the Blancafort
workshop in Collbató.
The organ consists of two bodies - totaling 1,492 pipes - and three keyboards, two of them manual and the third pedal-operated. It has twenty-six registers, that is, twenty-six types of different sounds, and inside it there are computers that memorize combinations of registers and sounds so that the organ can sound itself, without the need for an organist.
During Gaudí's time, many of his disciples and assistants
collaborated with the architect, such as Francisco Berenguer, Josep
Maria Jujol, Josep Francesc Ràfols, Cèsar Martinell, Joan Bergós,
Francesc Folguera, José Canaleta and Juan Rubió. At his death, another
of his disciples, Domingo Sugrañes, took charge of the works, who
completed the construction of the three towers of the Nacimiento facade
that were pending.
After a period in which the works were
stopped, in 1944 they were resumed by a team composed of Francesc
Quintana, Isidre Puig i Boada, Lluís Bonet i Garí and Francesc Cardoner,
who took over the management in 1983. This team was mainly responsible
for the construction of the facade of the Passion, for which the plans
and models left by Gaudí followed, trying to follow as faithfully as
possible the personal and unique style of the modernist architect.
In 1985 Jordi Bonet i Armengol was appointed director, with a team
that included Carles Buxadé, Joan Margarit, Jordi Faulí i Oller, Josep
Gómez, Mark Burry and Jordi Coll i Grifoll. This team was mainly
responsible for the interior of the temple and managed to cover the
vaults of the central and lateral naves. Again, the criteria marked by
Gaudí were followed, although with small innovations, especially in the
use of new materials such as concrete and in the application of new
technologies, such as CAD design and 3D projections. This modernization
of working methods was due above all to the New Zealand architect Mark
Burry, the first to use computer-aided design in the Sagrada Familia.
Since 2009, most of the works of the temple are outsourced in a
space of 12 ha located in the town of Galera (Gayá), where prefabricated
modules of postensada stone are built that are later placed in the
temple, with what is achieved a great savings in time and production
costs.
In 2012, Jordi Faulí and Oller replaced Bonet as director
of the works, on behalf of the Board of Trustees of the Construction
Board of the Sagrada Familia. Carles Buxadé, Joan Margarit and Josep
Gómez Serrano continue as Faculty Directors of the temple.
Address of the works:
1882-1883 Francisco de Paula del Villar y
Lozano
1883-1926 Antoni Gaudí
1926-1936 Domingo Sugrañes
1944-1966 Francesc Quintana
1966-1974 Isidre Puig and Boada
1974-1983 Lluís Bonet and Garí
1983-1985 Francesc Cardoner
1985-2012 Jordi Bonet and Armengol
2012-Current Jordi Faulí and Oller
The Sagrada Familia has a space set up as a museum, located in the
basement of the temple, in the lower part corresponding to the transept,
where the workshops were formerly located. Inaugurated on June 29, 1961,
it shows Gaudí's original plans and drawings, models of the temple and
various objects related to the project, among which the liturgical
furniture designed by Gaudí stands out. Also noteworthy is the inverted
polyfunicular model made of string and weights to calculate the
structure of the building and design the shape of the church of Colonia
Güell at a 1/15 scale, on which Gaudí based many of the structural
solutions of the Sagrada Familia.
The museum also has a room
dedicated to the architect's collaborators, as well as an audiovisual
room. In addition to the samples referring to the Sagrada Familia,
various objects, plans, drawings and photographs of Gaudí's various
works are also on display, as well as biographical testimonies of the
architect. Temporary exhibitions dedicated to different aspects of the
Gaudinian project are also held.
On the other hand, the space
formed by the Sagrada Familia Schools, which were moved in 2002 to one
side of the Passion façade, act as an exhibition space, with a
reconstruction of a school classroom and Gaudí's studio.
On the corner between Sardeña and Mallorca streets, next to the
Passion façade, is the building of the Sagrada Familia Schools, built
between 1908 and 1909 by Gaudí to provide education to the children of
the temple workers, as well as like other kids in the neighborhood.
Gaudí conceived a simple and efficient construction, with all its
components adapted to maximum rationalization and cost reduction. The
materials had to be the best adapted to their function and both the
shape and dimensions of the building had to be precise to offer minimum
cost and low construction effort.
The building has a rectangular
plan measuring 10 × 20 m and 5 m high. It consisted of three classrooms,
a hall and a chapel, with toilets in a body added to the building. The
construction was carried out with exposed brick, in three superimposed
layers, following the traditional technique of the Catalan vault. The
pavement was made of Portland cement on a layer of limestone. The shapes
of the building are wavy, which gives the structure a feeling of
lightness but at the same time great resistance. The structure is based
on three beams arranged in a vertical in the interior, which support
another horizontal beam located in the center, forming I-shaped profiles
that support wooden boards on which the brick roof rises. The different
inclinations create conoid geometric shapes, which confer a series of
concave and convex curves. The load-bearing walls are also curvilinear
in plan, with a progressive inclination from the roof to the floor, made
with bricks placed in a vertical joint break.
The schools were
severely damaged on July 20, 1936, at the beginning of the Civil War.
Part of the facades collapsed, the central girder and some pillars were
deformed and the wooden roof fell. In September of that same year, the
Council of the New Unified School commissioned Francesc Quintana to
rebuild it, the works of which were completed in July 1937. In 2002, the
building was moved from its original location, on the land of the Gloria
façade, to the current one, on the corner between Sardinia and Mallorca.
Throughout its history, the temple has been the object of various
criticisms and controversies, both artistic and urban planning, as well
as political, economic, religious and social. One of the most recurrent
has been its connection with Catalan nationalism, since it has been a
frequent meeting place and protest for nationalist acts. In the artistic
field, Gaudin's project had defenders and detractors from the beginning:
among the first were associations such as the Lliga Regionalista, the
Lliga Espiritual de la Mare de Déu de Montserrat and the Círculo
Artístico de San Lucas, along with personalities such as José Torras y
Bages, Joan Maragall, Josep Carner, Joan Llimona, José Pijoán or Joaquín
Folch y Torres, as well as the newspaper La Veu de Catalunya; Among the
latter, there was the group of Noucentista architects, the style that
succeeded and displaced modernism, led by its theorist, Eugeni d'Ors, as
well as the art critic Feliu Elias and the satirical magazine L'Esquella
de la Torratxa.
The temple of the Sagrada Familia is a great
work of art; We are fully convinced of this here and outside of here,
his fame has crossed our border.
Joan Llimona, La Veu de Catalunya,
January 20, 1906.347
I cannot think without terror about the
destiny of our people, forced to sustain, on their own normality, so
precarious, the weight, the greatness, the glory of these sublime
abnormalities: the Sagrada Familia, the poetry of Maragall...
Eugeni
d'Ors, Glossary, 1906
On the other hand, since the restart of the
works in the 1940s, an intense debate arose about whether it was
appropriate to continue the works or not, his detractors claiming that
Gaudí had not left enough indications and his continuation would distort
his project; On the other hand, the defenders of continuing the work
were based on the multiple indications left by the architect to his
assistants and disciples, as well as the drawings, models and
photographs that left evidence of the project outlined by Gaudí, not to
mention its multiple manifestations recognizing that the project would
be the work of several generations.
The definitive push for the
continuation of the works was decided by the ecclesiastical hierarchy
within the celebration in 1952 of the XXXV International Eucharistic
Congress. However, the critical voices were not silenced: in 1959, the
architect Oriol Bohigas gave a conference titled Problems in the
continuation of the Sagrada Familia, in which he stated that "the
continuation of a temple with the characteristics of the Sagrada Familia
is a social and urban planning error."
On the other hand, on
January 9, 1965, a group of architects, intellectuals, critics and
professionals from various fields published a letter-manifesto in La
Vanguardia questioning the continuity of the works; among the
signatories were: Le Corbusier, Bruno Zevi, Giulio Carlo Argan, Nikolaus
Pevsner, Gio Ponti, Roberto Pane, Gillo Dorfles, Camilo José Cela,
Alexandre Cirici, Oriol Bohigas, José Antonio Coderch, Nicolás María
Rubió Tudurí, Ricardo Bofill, Antoni Tàpies, Salvador Espriu, Joan Miró,
Joan Brossa and Josep Maria Subirachs - who paradoxically would later be
the sculptor of the temple -, in addition to the College of Architects
of Catalonia, the Promotion of Decorative Arts association and the
Barcelona School of Architecture.350 However, there was a broad popular
response in defense of the continuity of the project, which resulted in
record revenue to promote the works.
Likewise, in 1971 a new
manifesto signed by 123 architects against the continuation of the
temple was published in the press, calling for the stoppage of the
works, the transfer of the building to the State or the municipality,
the restoration of the Gaudinian work and the call for an international
competition to evaluate the future of the project. Also, in 1976, an
entire seventy-page edition of the magazine CAU
(Construction-Arquitectura-Urbanismo, no. 40) was dedicated to
evaluating and censoring everything built since Gaudi's death.
Another debate arose in 1987 with the choice of Subirachs to create the
sculptural group of the Passion façade, as he was a sculptor with an
avant-garde and abstracting style, far from the initial style of the
temple, which was more realistic. On July 10, 1990, a demonstration took
place in front of the temple against Subirachs' work, organized by the
magazine Àrtics, which did not find much popular support. Faced with
criticism of being one of the signatories of the 1965 manifesto,
Subirachs He claimed that “I disagreed with the way it ended. When I
accepted the assignment it was because they respected this condition of
doing it with a free style. "I have not changed my mind, but the works
board has changed."
In 2009, a new manifesto entitled Gaudí on
Red Alert was published, sponsored by the Promotion of Decorative Arts,
which denounced the interventions in various works by Gaudí declared
World Heritage Sites. The signatories declared that “the works of the
continuation have given rise, over the years, to a systematic
continuation of grievances. Today it is no longer known, nor is it made
known to anyone, where the author's work begins and where it ends.
A new controversy arose over the works on the Barcelona Sants-La
Sagrera high-speed tunnel, which ran along Mallorca Street, next to the
foundations of the main façade of the Sagrada Familia, and which could
endanger the integrity of the complex. Although in front of two of the
temple's facades there are already metro stations at a very short
distance and depth, the construction of the tunnel involved a campaign
of rejection, in which neighborhood associations, the Barcelona City
Council, the Generalitat of Catalonia and the Ministry of development.
Technicians from several universities supported this campaign. The
completion of the works in 2011 without incident put an end to the
controversy.
Over time, the majority of public opinion has been
in favor of the temple, today one of the indisputable emblems of
Barcelona. Proof of this is the change of opinion of the architect Óscar
Tusquets, one of the signatories of the 1965 manifesto, who in 2011
published an article in El País titled How could we be so wrong?, in
which he recognized the success in the continuity of the works. . Or, on
the other hand, the change of attitude of the City Council, originally
indifferent if not reluctant to the construction of the temple, and
which changed its mind with the awarding of the City of Barcelona Prize
for Architecture to the Sagrada Familia in 2010.
In recent times,
criticism has focused on excessive tourism and the damage derived from
the influx of public for the residents of the area. Regarding the
execution of the works, in 2016 the Sagrada Familia Neighborhood
Association filed a complaint for non-compliance with urban planning
regulations, considering that the columns of the Gloria façade invade
between 20 and 50 cm of the street sidewalk.
The Sagrada Familia opens to the public between 9:00 and 18:00 in winter and between 9:00 and 20:00 in summer. Access for visitors is located on Marina Street. There are various types of tickets: simple, combined with the Gaudí Museum in Park Güell or with an audio guide in different languages. Elevator tickets are purchased at the time of entering the temple, it is therefore important to know which one you will be boarding (Birth or Passion). The general entrance and the elevator entrance operate with fifteen-minute time bands and the approximate duration of the audio guide is ninety minutes. In the Basilica of the Sagrada Familia, mass is celebrated every Sunday at 9 in its central nave, and two daily masses in the crypt (one in Catalan and the other in Spanish).
The British progressive rock group The Alan Parsons Project dedicated
a song to the monument in 1987, on the conceptual CD Gaudí, where they
paid tribute to the life and works of the Catalan architect.
Likewise, the Barcelona musical group Pyramid dedicated an album to
Gaudí called Gaudi's Legacy. In this tribute album to the architect you
can find references to the Sagrada Familia.