is a world-famous Catholic church in Barcelona, which, with donations from parishioners and other private individuals, has been built for the second century according to the design of the great Antonio Gaudi.
Sagrada Familia is one of the most famous long-term construction projects in the world. Construction began in the 80s of the 19th century, and will end no earlier than 2040. This is due to the conditions of the construction organizers: the temple was to be built exclusively with donations.
Several years ago, the temple was consecrated by the Pope and given the status of a minor basilica. From that moment on, services began here, Catholics from all over the world come here. Catalans consider him the main one in Catalonia.
The Sagrada Familia is one of the most famous landmarks in Barcelona, Catalonia and throughout Spain. In terms of tourist attendance (at least 3 million people a year), it is on a par with the Alhambra and the Prado Museum.
Initially it was planned to build a Catholic church in the form of a basilica in the neo-Gothic style. But the first architect of the project, del Villar, refused to continue construction, and he was replaced by the then young Antonio Gaudi.
A very large anonymous donation was transferred to the future church, and Gaudí decided to massively redo the entire original project. His new project was permeated with symbols and allusions from the New Testament.
Gaudi began working on the façade of the Nativity, then designed the portal of the Holy Rosary. At the beginning of the 20th century, near the future facade of the Passion, a school was built for the children of builders using new architectural ideas.
Then the construction of two more facades began: the Passion and the Glory, interrupted by the sudden death of Gaudí as a result of an accident. However, construction continued according to the remaining sketches of the deceased architect.
The continuation of the work was undertaken by Antonio Gaudi's friend and colleague Domenech Sugranes, who was his first assistant in the construction of this temple and other famous buildings and structures.
Sugranes managed to build three bell towers for the Nativity façade. The Spanish Civil War prevented construction from continuing. Then, in a fire in Gaudi's workshop, started by anarchists, a significant part of his drawings was destroyed.
Construction resumed again only in the 50s of the last century. And in the 60s, a museum dedicated to this unique project was opened in the built school. In the 70s, the facade of the Passion and the bell tower to it were erected.
Today the temple has already been consecrated and is in operation, but its construction is actively ongoing. Many representatives of Spanish culture are calling for a stop to construction, because... They believe that the temple has become a victim of the tourism business.
Architecture
Each facade of the Sagrada Familia represents scenes from the life of Jesus Christ, known to everyone from the Gospel: the Birth of Jesus, the Adoration of the Magi, the expulsion of the merchants from the temple, the Crucifixion of Christ and his burial, etc.
No less interesting is the interior decoration, decorated with a magnificent play of light penetrating through skylights and stained glass windows. As you know, Gaudi was a master of working with light, so artificial lighting is not required in the temple.
Antonio Gaudi did not like straight lines and angles; all his architectural projects were as natural as possible, close to natural lines. For example, the interior of the temple is supported by huge columns that look like trees.
In the Sagrada Familia there is also the grave of the great architect; he gave the temple not only his soul, talent and strength, but also his body. Admirers of Gaudi's extraordinary creativity can always venerate his ashes here.
How to get here?
The temple is located in the north of Barcelona. You can get to it on metro lines 2 and 5. The station is called Sagrada Familia. You can also come here by city or tourist bus, or by taxi.
There is a building in Barcelona that has been under construction for almost 128 years, with minor interruptions, but everything comes to an end, doesn’t it?) This is the Sagrada Familia, the majestic Sagrada Familia Cathedral
Founded in 1882, the grandiose Cathedral of the Holy Family - Sagrada Familia in Spanish - is little by little taking on the appearance of a completed creation. The way it was conceived by one of the greatest architects of the 20th century, Antonio Gaudi... At the moment it is the most outstanding landmark of Barcelona.
“Either man is playing God, creating such masterpieces, or God is playing man, giving birth to such ideas in his head,” said one of the researchers of the work of Antonio Gaudi, frozen in amazement near the Sagrada Familia temple. The most famous temple in Spain is truly amazing. It rises above Barcelona like a huge cave with bell towers in the form of stalactites and deep grottoes that take you inside the mysterious temple
View of the cathedral towers from the other side
On March 19, 1882, on the outskirts of Barcelona, in the modest quarter of Barrio del Poblet, all the most eminent people of the city gathered. The Bishop of Barcelona, in his festive vestments, spoke slowly and solemnly. “...May sleeping hearts awaken, may faith be exalted, may mercy triumph, may God have mercy on this country...” With these words, he laid the first stone in the foundation of the future Redemptive Temple, dedicated to the veneration and glorification of the Holy Family
The original project belonged to Francesco del Villar. But a year later he was replaced by Antonio Gaudi, who completely changed the design of the cathedral, which had already begun to be built. Del Villar planned to build a church in the neo-Gothic style, but only managed to build a crypt under the apse
“The traditional Gothic system is a dead system. It can be compared to a human being whose skeleton, instead of harmoniously supporting the various parts of the body, was crushed by the flesh that it supported and needed support of any kind,” wrote Gaudí. As a result, the usual Gothic pointed arches in Gaudí's work became parabolic, the buttresses were replaced by internal ledges that perform the same function, but more elegant, and the inclined columns branched like the crown of a tree - this way the load is better distributed. To further emphasize the lightness and vertical aspiration of the temple, Gaudi gave the internal columns a spiral shape, making them “strive higher and higher, feel the desire to live their own life.” “It will be like a forest. Soft light will pour through window openings located at different heights, and it will seem to you that the stars are shining,” wrote the architect
Antoni Gaudi's plan was grandiose. The height of the finished cathedral - 170 meters - will be only a meter less than the height of the highest mountain in Barcelona. So Gaudí wanted to emphasize that the creation of man cannot be higher than that created by God. The main doors of the Passion facade reproduce words from the Bible in various languages, including Catalan
Gaudi was guided by the masterpieces of nature in his projects before. Likewise, the Sagrada Familia strives to be like a system of peaks and grottoes. Inside the building, the vault is supported by very unusual columns. They consist of polygons that change their shape upward, and most closely resemble trees. “It will be like a forest. Soft light will pour through window openings located at different heights, and it will seem to you that the stars are shining,” - this is how Gaudi saw the interior of the cathedral
The cathedral ceiling from another angle
Very unconventional for temple architecture. SimilaritiesThe relationship with a Catholic church is limited to the fact that it has a cross in its plan. The rest is a figment of the imagination of an eccentric architect who sought to create a visual image of faith, a “Bible in stone.” The entire appearance of the cathedral and every detail of it are therefore symbolic. 18 towers should rise above the cathedral building. 12 of them symbolize the apostles, 4 higher ones symbolize the four evangelists, the highest one symbolizes Jesus Christ. Statues, carvings, Latin inscriptions - everything serves the complex Catholic symbolism of the cathedral
Each of the three facades of the Sagrada Familia Cathedral is dedicated to one of the three central plots of Christ’s earthly life: “Nativity”, “Passion of Christ” and “Resurrection”
The sculptural groups of the Nativity façade are sculptured by Gaudí in life-size. For the scene of the beating of infants, the architect made plaster casts of stillborn children. To make a cast of an animal, he first put it to sleep using chloroform.
The second facade - “The Passion of Christ” - was made by the Spanish sculptor and artist Joseph Maria Subiraches, and is distinguished by wayward, emaciated figures of people, including sculptures depicting the flagellation and crucifixion of Christ
Here you can see a piece of the third, not yet built, facade - the Resurrection. In general, the construction of the cathedral contains a huge amount of all kinds of symbolism. In particular, the bunches of grapes that are visible on the small towers on the left symbolize Holy Communion
The design of facades often contains symbolism of numbers, for example here the sum of the rows, columns and diagonals gives the number 33 - the number of years of the life of Christ
Not only the size of the planned cathedral is impressive, but also the sophisticated detailing. Gaudi was ready to calculate the weight of each stone of the cathedral. Antonio Gaudi devoted several years only to the study of acoustics in order to create a perfect system of bells. They must be driven by the wind. Inside the building, the echoey acoustics suggest a large choir. In the photo - the “stomach” of one of the cathedral towers)
As is his custom, the architect did not outline a detailed design for the building, leaving room for improvisation. Devoting himself entirely to the cathedral, Gaudi lived on its construction site for many years, constantly supervising the construction, again and again implementing fresh ideas into the construction site. A passionate, fully immersed architect inevitably seemed strange
Inside the cathedral there is a museum room where Gaudi's drawings and ideas and various models are exhibited (what has survived; much was destroyed during the Spanish Civil War)
Cathedral chandelier project created by Gaudi. What was born from Gaudi’s head and embodied in small drawings and models can now be reproduced only with the help of computer modeling and a long calculation of all the nuances
A constant obstacle to construction was the lack of funds: such a grandiose project was built solely on donations from the residents of Barcelona. Primarily due to a lack of funds, the cathedral became a long-term construction project. Only recently have funds from investors, including foreign ones, been attracted to construction. Gaudi, however, answered questions about the construction timeline calmly: “My customer is in no hurry.”
So the construction survived the architect. Already a 74-year-old man, Antonio Gaudi died under the wheels of a tram not far from the cathedral under construction
After Gaudi's death, construction was continued by his students, then by his students' students. During the Spanish Civil War, anarchists destroyed Gaudi's drawings. After this, construction was suspended again, and there were even disputes about whether it was worth continuing? As a result, the famous smooth lines of Gaudi gave way to the chopped and rough forms of our contemporary Subirax, who today heads the work on the Temple. This discrepancy between styles clearly does not add harmony to the entire complex as a whole. The Sagrada Familia already evokes conflicting feelings, and the events that took place on November 28, 2000 added to the mystery of Barcelona's long-term construction. On this day, the ceremony of consecration of the nascent Temple was planned. But the solemn event was overshadowed. Early in the morning of the same day, a hurricane began in the city, and the finial crowning one of the arches of the window opening fell onto the site of the Church of the Holy Family with a terrible roar. Perhaps in any other city this would be perceived as a bad sign, but not in Barcelona. The consecration took place after all. And the Catalans, with whose money the construction of the Sagrada Familia began and continues, cannot wait for the Temple to be completed. Nowonce again surrounded by cranes as usual, but open to the public. Completion is planned for 2026.
Sagrada Familia, Barcelona.
The Temple of the Holy Family (Barcelona) or Sagrada Familia, as the Spaniards call it, is the calling card of not only the city, but the whole of Catalonia. You can’t come to Barcelona without visiting this magnificent building, to which Antoni Gaudí himself had a hand. It would be difficult to find a more magnificent building. It seems gloomy and huge from the outside, but amazes inside with its transparency and bright colors. Even a person far from religion will not remain indifferent within these walls.
Start of construction of the temple
Sagrada Familia is the largest long-term construction of our time. Describing the history of construction, it is impossible to complete the story, because the building is not yet completed. According to forecasts, all work will be completed by 2026, but no one can guarantee this, because construction is being carried out using donations and can take a long time.
Having received a large donation in 1874, the clergy of Barcelona decided to build a beautiful temple. They bought a large plot of land outside the then city and invited an engineer to create the project. The work was led by the famous architect Francisco del Villar. Under his leadership, on March 19, 1882, the first stone of the temple was laid. This date is considered the birthday of the construction, which has not yet been completed.
Alas, disagreements arose between the architect and the clients regarding the design of the building, and after just a year, the master refused to cooperate. Since the end of 1882, Antonio Gaudi took up the construction of the Sagrada Familia. He immediately makes significant adjustments to the appearance of the building. All that remains of the usual Gothic appearance are the columns and the skeleton. He provided many windows and small stained glass inserts in the walls, which immediately gave the structure lightness and some delicacy. Now Gaudí’s beloved Art Nouveau began to prevail over Gothic.
The outside of the building was decorated with many towers of different sizes. The parishioners must have had the feeling that numerous pointed peaks, like threads, stretched to the sky from the rocky base. The temple has three facades, each of which represents a specific milestone in the life of Jesus Christ: birth, death and resurrection. In smaller details and sculptures, other religious rituals and individual phrases from the Gospel are visible.
The architect planned to build the main tower 170 m high, which is 1 m less than the Montjuic hill. He did not want man's creation to be superior to God's. The author carefully worked out the smallest details on the towers, which surprised many builders. After all, at such a height it is impossible to notice tiny carvings or mosaics. However, Gaudi argued that angels see everything.
After several years of construction, Gaudi realized that he would not have time to complete the work before the end of his life. He had to choose what to tackle first. So, in 1892, he begins to work on the Nativity facade, which reflects the first stage - the birth of Jesus.
In addition to working on the facades, Antonio Gaudi also thought through additional structures for the Sagrada Familia. At the beginning of the 20th century (1910), a small parish school building was opened. This helped attract parishioners to the still unfinished temple.
For more than 40 years, the architect built the skeleton of the Temple, worked on small elements and towers, and completed the first facade. At the end of November 1926, the creation of the Nativity façade was completed. The walls were decorated with unusual sculptures and scriptures. Antonio Gaudi continued to work, but an accident ended his life. On June 7, 1926, an elderly architect, heading to church, found himself under the wheels of a tram. Three days later he died.
Construction of the temple after Gaudi's death
From that moment on, construction management passed to Gaudi's student, Domenech Suranyes, who helped with the work since 1902. Over the next 4 years, he completed the design of the remaining facades of the building in the style of the great master.
Further construction progressed much more slowly due to lack of funds. Architects were constantly changing, so it became more difficult to maintain a single style. Political disputes regarding Catalonia also affected the completion date. Thus, in 1936, anarchists severely damaged the interior and destroyed many construction documents. For many years, the Spanish authorities limited Catalonia's funding, so restoration work came to a standstill.
In the early 80s of the last century, construction went much faster and there was already a tendency towards completion. However, many artists are skeptical about the Sagrada Familia. They no longer see Gaudi's intentions in this temple. Architects changed too often and each brought a piece of their own vision. Nevertheless, the Sagrada Familia is named after Antonio Gaudi as its main inspirer and creator.
Exterior decoration of the temple
At the base of the Temple, a traditional cross can be seen, although its outlines are heavily disguised by additional buildings. The foundation size is 80 m long and 60 m wide. The maximum height of the internal vault reaches 45 m. According to Gaudí's design, 18 pointed towers of varying heights should rise above the ground. The central and highest one symbolizes Jesus Christ. Next come the towers of the Virgin Mary, the authors of the four Gospels and the 12 apostles.
The building has three facades:
- The Nativity façade is dedicated to the birth of Jesus Christ. It is decorated with a sculptural group based on biblical descriptions. The wall has numerous windows, complemented by stained glass.
- The Passion façade narrates the execution of Jesus. It is done in more subdued colors with angular, bony statues. The central sculpture is a crucifix.
- The Glory Façade symbolizes the resurrection of the Son of God. It is distinguished by its enormous size, emphasizing the importance of this event. This side of the temple has been under construction since 2002 and is not yet completed.
Temple interior
Once inside the Church of the Holy Family, you may be surprised by such a spacious and bright room. The famous architect used his skill in calculations and managed to create a light atmosphere in the surrounding space. The entire height of the walls is decorated with numerous stained glass windows, so light penetrates from everywhere.
Parishioners can see numerous sculptures and frescoes, mosaics and paintings. All elements are harmoniously intertwined with each other. The details are worked out in Gaudi's favorite manner, that is, the walls and columns are slightly curved and covered with a sinuous pattern.
The interior spaces feel alive and breathing. They absolutely do not put pressure on visitors. Although the attraction is visited by millions of tourists every year, there are no large crowds or crush inside.
Tourist information
The temple is open daily from 9:00 to 18:00. During the summer (April-September) work is extended until 20:00.
Entrance to the temple is paid. Ticket price is:
- 12.50 euros for adults;
- 10.50 euros for pensioners and students.
For a small additional fee you can use the services of an audio guide.
At the entrance there is a fairly large queue of people wanting to see the interior of the temple. You can reduce the waiting time on a group excursion.
You can get to the Sagrada Familia by bus. Routes number 33, 43, 44, 51 go to the Sagrada Familia stop. Also, blue and lilac metro line trains arrive at the station of the same name.
The Expiatory Cathedral of the Holy Family (cat. Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Familia), often called the Sagrada Familia, is a famous church in Barcelona designed by the famous Catalan architect Antonio Gaudi. The temple is located in the Eixample district, its construction began in 1882 and has not yet been completed.
The first design of the cathedral was developed by the architect Francisco del Villar (cat. Francisco de Paula del Villar y Lozano), in whose place at the end of 1883 A. Gaudi was invited, who significantly changed the original project. According to the decision of the initiators of the construction of the temple, financing of the work should be carried out exclusively through donations from parishioners, which is one of the reasons for such a long construction.
By 1918, Gaudí had become a completely isolated figure, with only one sponsor left - the Catholic Church. He had to go through a deep spiritual crisis alone, deteriorating health and the death of many close friends. In 1910 his first teacher, José Villasec, died, in 1911 - Maragall, the eccentric sculptor Mani and his assistant, in 1914 - Berenguer, followed by Bishop Campis, and in 1916 - Bishop Torras. With the death of Eusebio Güell in 1918, all work in the park and Colony Güell finally ceased. Nevertheless, by 1918 he had only one project left, the work of his whole life - the Sagrada Familia Cathedral. Having created his own unique style in architecture, towards the end of his life he devoted himself completely to this building and to God.
Final view of the Sagrada Familia (project)
Gaudí was engaged not only in designing the building, but also in collecting donations for construction, the pace of which in the first thirty-six years, from 1882 to 1918, could not be called fast. The crypt, which inherited its neo-Gothic forms from Paulo del Villar i Lozano, was completed in 1891.
By 1900, the first transverse facade, called the Nativity façade, was completed, along with part of the inner wall and the chapel.
Eighteen years later, Gaudí's team, with the greatest care and attention to detail, continued to refine the designs and layouts of the central nave and passage, as well as the drawings of the opposite transverse façade of the Passion. All this time, four bell towers slowly rose above the façade of the Nativity. The first, completed in 1918, has a honeycomb-shaped brick outer shell with asymmetrical windows spiraling upward from the base to the top. From a distance, it resembles a many times enlarged copy of a fragile sea shell that is found on the coast of Catalonia. The Tower of Saint Barnabas, covered with a mosaic of broken glass, was the only tower completed during Gaudí's lifetime.
Over the decades, Gaudi built and improved a certain liturgical order of the symbolic content of the space of the Sagrada Familia Cathedral. Thanks to experiments in the colony of Güell, which proved the effectiveness and reliability of the parabolic arch, a constructive solution as a whole had already been found. But in his workshop at the temple, Gaudi worked tirelessly on the details.
Obelisks were placed at the four corners of the construction site, symbolizing the four fasts of the Catholic calendar circle. In addition, they were supposed, according to Gaudí, to “praise the Holy Family and preach the virtues of repentance.” The composition was completed by a fountain and a lamp, symbolizing purification by fire and water. Inside the cathedral, Gaudí planned to place pews for thirteen thousand parishioners, while the central columns corresponded to the main apostolic missions of Spain, which included Valencia, Granada, Santiago de Compostela, Burgos, Seville, Toledo, Segovia and even small dioceses like Burgo de Osma with a population of only five thousand souls.
Throughout his life, Gaudi did what Goya and El Greco did before him - skillfully used the plasticity and malleability of the spiritual world. He said that “hearing corresponds to faith, and sight corresponds to glory, since glory is the image of God. From the point of view of the sensation of light, space and plasticity, vision is the infinity of space; it sees what is and what is not.” Gaudí was aware of the powerful psychological effects of sound, especially in religious buildings. He experimented for years with the shape of elongated bells for the Sagrada Familia. In addition, the entire structure of the building was designed to sound like a grand organ.
Color also played a special role. The irony is that for many Gaudí’s work was associated with “black Spain”, that is, the Inquisition, while he was the author of more impressive creations than the sparkling “HOSANNA” mosaic soaring to the top of the bell tower. Gaudi imagined the interior of the Sagrada Familia as a bright, multi-colored psalm to the glory of God.
Gaudi completed only one of the two chapels located at the corners of the churchyard - the Chapel of the Rosary of Our Lady. It is a very small structure, topped with a dome, thanks to which a sufficient amount of daylight penetrates inside, and it seems as if rich lace is woven along the walls with an abundance of blooming roses and rose bushes associated with Christian symbolism. In addition to the Holy Virgin and Child, there are images of Saint Domingo and Saint Catalina of Siena, as well as figures of the Magi and prophets from the New Testament: David, Solomon, Isaac and Jacob.
The facade of the Nativity of the Sagrada Familia cathedral struck terror into the hearts of honest parishioners. When you step under the giant sculptural frieze, it seems that the building is about to collapse and bury all living things under it.
The central entrance, divided in the middle by a column, is crowned by a sculptural group depicting the Holy Family. All figures are made in life size. At ground level, two columns in the shape of palm trees, visually dividing the space, rest on the backs of two turtles: a sea turtle from the sea side and a land turtle from the mountain side. Turtles symbolize stability and immutability of the world. At the same time, the figures of chameleons on both sides of the facade symbolize the constant change in natural forms.
At a thirty-meter height, under the shade of a giant Christmas tree, surrounded by the apostles Barnabas, Simon, Thaddeus and Matthew, the glorification of the Madonna takes place.
Portico of Mercy, Coronation of Mary
Portico of Hope
Nativity of Jesus
Portico of Hope, Massacre of the Innocents
The entire façade of Christmas, swift and grandiose, gives the impression of continuous movement. This, critics grumbled, is nothing more than “a treatise on pure aspiration.” But Gaudí's unfinished creation employs an unbridled style of kleptomania, combining the language of wax figures, diorama, carnival, landscape, grotto, fairground and religious shrine into an intricate whole.
While designing the facade, Gaudi constantly looked closely at the parishioners in search of suitable models. He considered copying the creations of the Creator to be the highest form of his praise and evidence of his own modesty. The cathedral watchman, the alcoholic Josep, who later died of delirium tremens, became Judas. The fat goatherd served as a model for Pontius Pilate. The six-fingered giant, encountered in one of the bars, posed for the centurion figure in the scene of the massacre of the infants. When difficulties arose in finding models, Gaudi found them among his workers. So the sculptor became Saint Peter, the carrier of building materials - the Apostle Thaddeus, and the plasterer - King David.
The next stage of work was even more unusual. Chickens and turkeys were euthanized with chloroform, coated with fat, and a plaster cast was quickly made of them. The donkey was tied and suspended from his harness to make it easier to take his measurements. A dead owl found at a construction site has become a symbol of the night. It was only once, when Gaudi decided to make a life-size cast of Ricardo Opisso, and he lost consciousness, that the architect realized the eccentricity of his method.
The facade of the Nativity of Christ is decorated with a spire in the form of a cypress tree, crowning three porticoes: Mercy, Faith and Hope. Above the Cave of the Coronation of the Holy Virgin is an anagram of Jesus, quite complex and expressive. In its center you can see a cross with the letters A and Ω along the edges, indicating the beginning and end of all things. The cross itself serves as a symbol of the origin and end of world life.
A little higher up you can see another rarely mentioned symbol - a gold and red glazed egg, also marked with Jesus' personal anagram: JHS. We are probably talking about the egg as a symbol of integrity. The figure of a pelican above him belongs to the primitive iconography of Christianity; it is also found in the mythology of previous eras. According to myths, this bird uses its beak to tear open its belly full of fish to feed its chicks, and therefore serves as a symbol of Jesus, as well as a symbol of the resurrection from the dead.
On November 30, 1925, the construction of the Tower of St. Barnabas, the first tower on the left side of the façade of the Nativity of Christ, was completed. This is the only tower that Gaudi saw completed.
The inside of the tower is as stunning as the outside. At the bottom of each tower, a spiral staircase begins, almost without railings (due to the steepness), and when climbing up it, it begins to seem to a person as if he is rotating around its axis. When looking at these stairs from the bottom up or top down, a stunning optical effect occurs. The stairs of some towers are twisted in one direction, the stairs of others are twisted in the opposite direction. Once up, you can move from one tower to another. Many passages form a delightful vertical labyrinth. Inside one of the four towers there is an elevator that allows you to rise from ground level to where openings with stone shutters open in the walls. Here the stairs rest on the outer walls.
In subsequent years, the architect Domenic Sugranes, a follower of Gaudí, rebuilt three more towers. Later, four almost identical towers of the Passion facade were erected; their construction ended in 1977. According to the project, the four towers of the Slava facade should be much higher than all existing ones.
The towers are dedicated to the twelve apostles. On the four oldest ones - the outer ones, ninety-four meters high, and the inner ones, one hundred and seven meters high - are carved the names and corresponding figures of the apostles Barnabas, Simon, Judas Tadeo and Matthew, sitting on pedestals, and the inscription “Sursum corda” (Lift up your heart) in Latin. Towers with square bases above have a circular cross-section. The flow of one form into another occurs at the upper level of the facade. There are many church towers with a square section and very few with a round section, but there is not a single tower, except those of the Sagrada Familia, that combines both types of sections. Gaudi did not leave any explanation for the reason for the transition from square to round, while critics limit themselves to statements that this is a technique that is extremely successful from an aesthetic point of view.
On Monday, June 7, 1926, at five thirty minutes in the afternoon, Gaudí left the Sagrada Familia to walk three kilometers to the church of San Philip Neri. Following his usual path, he went down the street to the intersection and was hit by a tram there. Later, the driver of route No. 30 claimed that Gaudi did not look where he was going, and, tripping over the tram tracks, hit his head on a lamppost. Two passers-by rushed to help the victim of the incident, but did not recognize him as the famous architect. He had no documents with him; in his pockets there were only a handful of raisins and nuts. The hat also disappeared somewhere. Four times they tried to stop a taxi to take the victim to the hospital, but each time they were refused. Finally, with the help of National Guard soldiers, they managed to get a taxi driver to take the wounded man to a free dispensary for the poor. There, Gaudi was quickly diagnosed with rib fractures plus a traumatic brain injury, and they decided to send him to the clinic.
The next morning, “the patient regained consciousness after a night of unconsciousness and asked to be given unction, eagerly receiving the last communion.” Soon news of Gaudí's deplorable condition spread throughout the city. By Tuesday evening he was transferred to a separate ward, his ribs were set, but there was barely a glimmer of life in him. Church prelates, friends and admirers filled the hospital corridors. The proposal to transfer the architect to an expensive private clinic was rejected. Gaudi wanted to die among the people. He said almost nothing, and his heavy breathing was only occasionally interrupted by a whisper of “Lord Jesus!”, and his pale hand lying on top of the blanket tightly clutched the crucifix. On Thursday, June 10, 1926, at five o'clock in the afternoon, Antonio Gaudi passed away.
After Gaudí's death in 1926, the construction of the temple was led by Domenic Sugrañes and Francisco de Quintana, under whom the first four bell towers were completed. In 1939, the construction of the cathedral was undertaken by Isidre Puig Boada and Lewis Bonet i Gali. Lewis Bonet i Gali became the chief architect of the project in 1971. In 1985, Jordi Bonet i Armengol took over the management, and a year later the sculptor José Maria Subirax began work on the façade of the Passion of Christ.
“If we started construction from this facade, people would have prevented it,” Gaudí explained his decision to postpone the construction of the Portal of the Passions. This statement demonstrates the depth of drama that the architect was striving for. In 1911, in the city of Puigcerdà, being seriously ill, he wrote a will and at the same time compiled the composition of this portal, which depicts the events of the last week of Jesus’ earthly life.
Crucifixion
That Subirax was the master who was to realize his vision is confirmed by the great respect with which the researcher of Catalan art Sirisi Pellicer writes in his work “Modern Art of Catalonia” (1970): “Subirax creates an exceptional sculpture that makes one think of Gaudí. He creates in the typically unfavorable conditions that accompany all bearers of fire in their clashes with nonentities.” Nevertheless, the appointment of the sculptor Subirax by the Governing Council was from the very beginning subject to sharp criticism and was accompanied by intense controversy. After a year of careful study of Gaudí's architectural and sculptural heritage, Subirax began his duties. On a unique stage with three plans, the sculptor depicted the story of the Passion, starting with the Last Supper and ending with the Crucifixion.
On November 28, 2000, the unfinished temple was consecrated. Currently, José Maria Subirax and other architects are working on the naves, choirs and courtyard. When construction is completed, eighteen towers will rise over the city - in honor of the twelve apostles, four evangelists, the Mother of God and Christ. The towers of the evangelists will be decorated with their symbols, and the central tower of Christ will be decorated with a giant cross. The height of the central tower will be only one meter lower than Montjuic, the mountain that dominates Barcelona. Gaudi believed that his creation should not rise above the mountain that God created. He was a religious man who, despite everything, had a peculiar sense of humor. To criticism about the pace of construction, the famous architect replied: “My client is in no hurry.”
Many considered Gaudi's work prophetic. Fearing that humanity was slipping back into medieval obscurantism, Subirax once said: “If this is true, and everything we are seeing today is not accidental - the revival of Islam, the AIDS epidemic, the simultaneous degeneration of local power and the collapse of great ideological blocs, a new form of piracy in the form of international terrorism and the flowering of esotericism - then Gaudi, as in many other cases, prophesied, saying: The Sagrada Familia is not the last of the cathedrals, but the first in a new era.”
The Valencian architect Santiago Calatrava, who can be considered Gaudi’s heir in the sense of a unique ability to feel and discover new forms, most accurately characterized Gaudi’s work: “People tried to interpret Gaudi’s creations in terms of paganism, Freemasonry, Buddhism and even atheism. I think this was a man who really served a religious idea. But this god, or rather goddess, before whom Gaudí bowed was architecture itself.”
Barcelona.
The moon is like a lily
in duckweed he sleeps on the Milky Way.
Witchcraft Sagrada Familia,
the embodiment of Gaudi's dreams,
raised sharp peaks towards the stars,
like Christ's astroplane at the start.
Isn't it like stalagmites to galaxies?
the strange temple is gradually growing?
Sergey Sokolov
The Sagrada Familia, located near the center of Barcelona, is probably one of the most unusual Christian churches in the world, both in appearance and in the history of its construction. Actually, this story is still unfinished. But this is how you can correctly complete a temple begun by a brilliant master known for his oddities, if the construction plan remains in his head
The Temple of the Holy Family (full name: Expiatory Temple of the Holy Family, Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família), sometimes inaccurately called the Cathedral of the Holy Family in Russian, is a church in Barcelona, in the Eixample district, built with private donations since 1882, a famous project Antonio Gaudi. One of the most famous long-term construction projects in the world.
On November 7, 2010, the temple was consecrated by Pope Benedict XVI and was officially declared ready for daily services. On the same day he awarded the cathedral the title Minor Papal Basilica
Gaudi and the Sagrada Familia
Antonio Gaudi
Sagrada Familia, the Church of the Holy Family, is the main creation of the world famous Spanish architect Antonio Gaudi. In the history of architecture, Gaudi's work stands apart. His vision of what a building should be is so individual that it is impossible to even compare it with any other architect. Although, of course, he drew inspiration from many architectural styles - Gothic, Moorish, Art Nouveau, elements of all these styles were transformed by his imagination into completely unusual, incomparable, breathtaking designs.
Antonio Gaudí i Cornet was born in the small town of Reus, near Tarragona, in Catalonia. His father was a coppersmith, and this fact undoubtedly had a significant influence on Gaudi’s later passion for artistic casting. Throughout his life, Gaudi had respect for the masters of his native land. Wrought iron was a Catalan folk craft, and many of Gaudí's most astonishing creations were made from this material, often with his own hands.
In the seventies of the 19th century, Gaudí moved to Barcelona, where, after five years of preparatory courses, he was accepted into the Provincial School of Architecture, from which he graduated in 1878.
In Europe at that time there was an extraordinary flowering of the neo-Gothic style, and the young Gaudi enthusiastically followed the ideas of neo-Gothic enthusiasts - the French architect Violet le Duc and the English critic and art critic John Ruskin. The declaration they proclaimed: “Decorativeness is the beginning of architecture” was fully consistent with Gaudi’s own thoughts and ideas. But nevertheless, Gaudi’s own creative style is completely unique.
The construction of a grandiose temple in Barcelona dedicated to the Holy Family (La Sagrada Familia) became the life's work of Antoni Gaudi. He worked on its design and construction for 43 years. A deeply religious man, he conceived his temple as an architectural embodiment of the New Testament. The stucco reliefs of the facades were supposed to represent the entire earthly life and deeds of Christ.
Museum exhibits. Layout and diagram.
In 1891, the chief architect of the construction became Antonio Gaudi.
In fact, the customers chose Gaudi, most likely for reasons of economy - a venerable architect would have cost them much more. However, employers were disappointed - already in the first years the estimate was exceeded many times over. Gaudi began work without a finished project. He generally preferred to improvise on the construction site.
Construction Museum
The architect simply could not work any other way. He treated each of his creations as a living being that should grow freely and naturally. Despite all the phantasmogorism of the forms created by Gaudí, they are never abstract - on the contrary, they always directly go back to something existing in nature.
When asked where he finds samples for himself, the architect answered: “In an ordinary tree, with its branches and leaves. All parts of the tree grow organically and seem beautiful, because they were created by one artist - God.” Drawing inspiration from living nature, Gaudi created designs that seemed impossible to his colleagues. Only decades after the death of the architect, already in the computer age, it was proven that the engineering solutions that Gaudi came to intuitively fully comply with the laws of mechanics
To do this, he needed to be constantly present at the construction site, and as a result, he moved to one of the rooms in the unfinished cathedral building. While observing the construction, Gaudi constantly intervened in the progress of the work: unexpected thoughts came to his mind, and he tried to implement them at all costs, sometimes even stopping the work and ordering the demolition of what had already been built...
In the Sagrada Familia Cathedral, he “planted” a whole forest of columns with capitals in the form of branches - intertwining, they cover the vault with an openwork forest web. Gaudi's contemporaries were sure that this vault would certainly collapse. The unique structures on which the vaults of the Sagrada Familia rest are reinforced concrete columns lined with basalt, sandstone or granite.
These designs were invented by Gaudi himself. The columns go 20 meters deep underground and reach a height of 70 meters. Each of them can withstand a magnitude 7 earthquake and wind gusts of up to two hundred kilometers per hour.”
Gaudi did not divide the elements of his buildings into functional and decorative - after all, such a division does not exist in nature. The pillars of the aqueduct he designed in Park Güell look like ancient petrified tree trunks. He gave the usual pipes and exits of ventilation shafts on the roof of the Casa Mila apartment building the appearance of ghostly warriors and stylized trees. Casa Mila, immediately nicknamed by the Barcelonans “La Pedrera”, that is, “The Quarry”, is remarkable not only for its dissimilarity to anything else. It was the first house in history with an underground garage. In addition, it was the first to apply the principle that decades later was called “free planning”. 
So one of the most amazing structures in the world began to rise above the houses of Barcelona, causing some confusion among the townspeople: what kind of church is this? This is either an anthill, or some kind of stalagmite growing out of the ground, a stone icicle!
Gaudi and Enuncio Ragonesi with a visit to la Sagrada Familia (1915).
Gaudi built the temple over thirty-five years
Since 1914, Gaudi devoted all his energy only to the construction of his temple. Deeper and deeper into himself, he became more and more eccentric, firmly believed in his messianic destiny, lived as a hermit in his workshop located on a construction site, and went out from time to time “with his cap in his hand” to raise funds for the construction of the church (donations were the only source of construction financing).
On June 7, 1926, the first tram was officially launched in Barcelona. Only one event overshadowed that festive day - a few hours after the opening of traffic, some beggar old man fell under the wheels of a carriage. He was taken to the hospital, where he died soon after. The body was already about to be sent to a common grave. And one of the hospital employees identified the body. It was Gaudi.
The architect was buried in the crypt of the Sagrada Familia - the cathedral, which he considered the main work of his life.
Angela Sanchez y Gargallo: "Gaudi understood that he would hardly have enough time to complete the construction of the cathedral. Therefore, in recent years, he deviated from his principle and began to make sketches and drawings for those who would come after him. There was a lot of debate about whether construction should continue. They won those who believed that leaving the master's creation unfinished meant betraying his memory".
Many in Spain considered it blasphemous to interfere with the plan of a genius. “It’s like putting arms on a statue of the Venus de Milo.” , - the architect Jose Acebillo was indignant.
Salvador Dali spoke even more categorically: “It would be a betrayal of Gaudi to finish building the cathedral... It would be better to leave it sticking out in the middle of Barcelona like a huge rotting tooth.”
There was a lot of discussion about whether the church should be completed after Gaudí's death. However, several unsuccessful attempts to continue the work of the brilliant master only emphasize the individuality, extraordinary plastic expressiveness and power of his art. Gaudi's experiments, in general, remained unique in the history of architecture.
The eternal task of architecture - to combine beauty and practicality, of course, could not inspire architects to “launch into series” Gaudi’s plans.
External elements architecture details
The Sagrada Familia Church, even unfinished, still amazes the imagination today. Needless to say, how surprised the Barcelonans were when it grew like a strange, fantastic plant before their eyes!
And, as often happens, the viewer was unprepared to perceive such unusual architectural forms. The fate of this structure is similar to the fate of the Eiffel Tower. Some remained puzzledly silent and shrugged their shoulders, others scolded him, reviled him, and called him a “stone nightmare.” But time passed, and people saw in him what they could not see at first. And gradually it became the main architectural landmark of Barcelona, like the Big Ben Tower in London, the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence, and the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
The idea of creating an expiatory temple dedicated to the Holy Family arose in 1874 and, thanks to generous donations, in 1881 a plot of land was acquired in the Eixample area, located at that time a few kilometers from the city. The first stone in the foundation of the new temple was laid on March 19, 1882, and this day is considered the start date of construction
According to the original project of the architect del Villar, it was planned to create a neo-Gothic basilica in the shape of a Latin cross, formed by five longitudinal and three transverse naves.
Apse of the temple, 1893
A huge apse was designed, consisting of seven chapels and a circular gallery behind the choir, and the surrounding cloister was intended to connect the three monumental facades of the church. However, soon after the start of construction, at the end of 1882, del Villar left the project due to disagreements with the customers and instead A. Gaudí was entrusted with the management of the work
In 1883-1889, Gaudí completed the crypt begun by his predecessor. A higher vault was erected above the previously created del Villar structure, which made it possible to open the windows to the outside. The vault is decorated with a surprisingly beautiful keystone with a relief on the theme of the Annunciation, and the crypt itself is surrounded by a shallow moat, protecting the walls from dampness and improving access to daylight.
The construction of the neo-Gothic apse had already begun when, having received an unusually large anonymous donation, Gaudí decided to seriously redo the original project, retaining only the layout in the form of a Latin cross and completely changing the shape and structure of the building.
In accordance with Gaudí's project, the structure was to be crowned with many monumental towers directed upward, and all elements of the decoration were to receive a deep symbolic meaning associated with the Gospel or church rites.
Nativity facade
In 1892, the architect began work on the Nativity façade. He started with this façade because he was afraid of scaring off the residents of the city by implementing the plan for the façade of the Passion, which openly and harshly tells about the crucifixion of Christ.
Apse of the temple
In 1895, work on the neo-Gothic apse was completed. One of its features are the decorative tops of the turrets and gutters of the drainpipes, inspired by the local flora and fauna, lizards and snails that could be found in abundance in the surrounding area.
Around the same time, a part of the cloister corresponding to the portal of the Holy Virgin of the Rosary was built, decorated with rich ornamentation full of symbolism. The portal of the Holy Virgin of the Rosary itself was completed in 1899.
School for construction workers' children near the church
In 1909-1910, a temporary school building was built on the site of the future main facade. It was created by Gaudi for the children of builders and, as a temporary structure, had no load-bearing walls. Despite its ephemeral nature, this school has a unique design. The strength of the building is achieved through the use of curved partitions and roofing, and the division of classrooms with non-weight-bearing partitions makes it possible to easily change the layout of the internal space.
Crucifixion. Facade of Passion
In 1911, A. Gaudi created a project for the second facade - the facade of the Passion, although the final architectural design of the naves and vaults appeared only in 1923, and the construction of this facade began after Gaudi's death.
Carrying the Cross. Façade of Passion
The creation of sketches of the third facade - the Glory facade - also dates back to the beginning of the 10s of the 20th century.
Ascension of Christ. Facade of passions
Unfortunately, only structural and volumetric analyzes and sketches of a symbolic and iconographic nature have reached us from this work. The design of the naves and the ceilings of the facade included research carried out in the crypt of the Güell colony, and the final result, according to the architect’s plan, should look like a “forest of tree-like columns”, flooded with light penetrating through stained glass windows of different heights.
On November 30, 1925, the 100-meter bell tower of the Nativity façade, dedicated to St. Barnabas, was completed. It turned out to be the only bell tower completed during the lifetime of the architect, who devoted more than forty years of his life to the construction of the Temple.
Final view of the Church of the Holy Family (project)
After Gaudí's death, his closest associate Domènec Sugrañes i Gras, who had worked with Gaudí since 1902 and helped in the construction of the Sagrada Familia and many other famous buildings (for example, Casa Batlló and Casa Mila), took over the management of the work.
Domenech Sugranes
Before his death in 1938, D. Sugranes managed to complete the construction of the three remaining bell towers of the Nativity facade (1927-1930), completed work on the ceramic cypress crowning the central entrance of the facade, and also conducted a number of studies on the rigidity of structures. The outbreak of the Spanish Civil War prevented construction from continuing.
Central portal
To add insult to injury, during a fire in 1936, many of the drawings and models stored in Gaudí's workshop were destroyed. Fortunately, some of them were later restored. Construction of the Nativity façade was continued only in 1952. This year the staircase was completed and the façade was illuminated for the first time, which has become permanent since 1964.
In 1954, construction began on the façade of the Passion. The work was based on the developments and research carried out by Gaudí in the period from 1892 to 1917.
Cathedral crypts
Following the completion of the crypt in 1961, a museum dedicated to the historical, technical, artistic and symbolic aspects of the project was opened.
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux in the apse of the Sagrada Familia.
In 1977, the four towers of the Passion facade were erected, and in 1986 work began on sculptures to decorate this facade, completed at the beginning of the 21st century. Around the same time, stained glass windows dedicated to the Resurrection of Jesus Christ and a bronze sculpture of the Ascension of the Lord were installed.
In 1978-2000, the main nave and transepts, as well as their vaults and facades, were erected. In the first decade of the 21st century, the gallery vaults were completed and by 2010 the middle cross and apse should appear.
Two towers will be erected on them: a 170-meter tower of the central lantern, topped with a cross, and an apse tower dedicated to the Virgin Mary. According to the plan, this part of the structure should contain four more towers in honor of the Evangelists.
Glory facade door
Facade of Glory
The expected completion of all construction work is the first third of the 21st century, when the creation of the Slava façade, which began in 2000, should also be completed.
Temple Architecture
Outdoor device
Schematic representation of individual elements of the Church of the Holy Family
The illustration shows the relative position of the main elements of the Sagrada Familia. This five-nave church is planned in the form of a Latin cross, formed by the intersection of the main nave with a three-nave transept
The unusually large apse, under which the crypt is located, includes seven chapels and a bypass gallery behind the choir. The cloister surrounding the building will have to connect all the facades of the church: the southern facade of the Passion of Christ, the eastern facade of Glory and the northern facade of the Nativity. The structure will be topped with eighteen towers
.
Twelve of them, four on each facade, ranging in height from 98 to 112 meters, will be dedicated to the twelve apostles. Four 120-meter towers above the middle cross in honor of the Evangelists will surround the central 170-meter tower of Jesus, and the slightly smaller bell tower of the Virgin Mary will be located above the apse
According to the project, the towers of the evangelists will be decorated with sculptures of their traditional symbols: the calf (Luke), the angel (Matthew), the eagle (John) and the lion (Mark). The central spire of Jesus Christ will be topped with a giant cross. The height of the Temple, according to Gaudi's plan, is not accidental: his creation should not exceed God's creation - Mount Montjuic. The remaining towers will be decorated with sheaves of wheat and bunches of grapes, symbolizing Holy Communion.
On the left is the portal of Passion, on the right is the portal of Glory (not finished). 2011
Nativity facade
Portal of Mercy
The Nativity facade, most of which was created during Gaudí's lifetime, is formed by three portals glorifying Christian virtues - Faith, Hope and Charity.
Mercy.
The portals are decorated with realistic sculptures dedicated to the earthly life of Christ. Thus, above the left portal of Hope there are scenes of the betrothal of Mary and Joseph, the flight to Egypt and the beating of the infants, and its pommel symbolically depicts Mount Montserrat with the inscription “Save us”.
Portal of Hope
Portal of Mercy
Portal of Faith
The right portal of the Faith contains the sculptural paintings “Elizabeth’s Meeting with the Mother of God,” “Jesus and the Pharisees,” “Introduction to the Temple,” and “Jesus Working in the Carpenter’s Workshop.” Above the central portal, under the Christmas star, are the sculptural groups “The Birth of Jesus” and “The Adoration of the Shepherds and Magi”, and above them are figures of trumpeting angels,
heralding the birth of Christ, scenes of the Annunciation and the Wedding of the Holy Virgin, etc. Rising high above the portal is a cypress tree crowned with a cross, symbolizing the church and its flock, surrounded by birds.
Coronation of Mary
The spindle-shaped shape of the bell towers, reminiscent of sand castles, is determined by the structure of the spiral staircases inside
Passion of Christ. Facade sculptures
Kiss of Judas
Each tower is dedicated to its own apostle, whose statues are placed at points where the shape of the towers changes from square to round.
At the top of the towers, Gaudi intended to place tubular bells, the ringing of which would be combined with the sound of five organs and the voices of 1,500 singers, located, according to the architect’s idea, on both sides of the longitudinal naves and on the inside of the Glory façade. 
Each bell tower bears the motto “Glory to the Most High” (“Hosanna Excelsis”) from top to bottom, above which rise polychrome spiers decorated with a stylized image of the symbols of the episcopal rank - the Ring, Miter, Rod and Cross.
Liturgical texts are widely used in the decoration; the main gates of the Passion façade are decorated with quotations from the Bible in several languages, including Catalan. The facade of the Glory is supposed to be decorated with the words of the Apostles' Creed.
Internal organization
Realizing that work on the temple would not be completed during his lifetime, Gaudí planned many of the interior details.
The desire to avoid straight lines, coupled with the desire to simplify the design, led to the fundamental decision to use geometric figures with a ruled surface, such as a hyperboloid, a hyperbolic paraboloid, and a helicoid iconoid. All these surfaces can be obtained by moving a straight line, therefore their intersection is a straight line, which greatly facilitates the articulation of various parts of the structure. The design uses another geometric figure - an ellipsoid.
Geometric shapes appeared in the design around 1914. The master’s earlier experiments with the shape of columns and other interior details do not yet contain the above-mentioned strict geometric surfaces, but indicate the architect’s desire to find certain spatial solutions known only to him.
Thus, when decorating the interior of the facade of the Nativity, Gaudi used round columns with a helicoidal or double helicoidal pattern in the upper part of the trunk, and in the portal of the Rosary, twisted columns with flutes twisted in the shape of one or several helicoids are used.
Ceilings
Everything in the interior is subject to strict geometric laws. Round and elliptical windows and stained glass windows, hyperbolic vaults, helical staircases, numerous stars appearing at the intersections of various ruled surfaces and ellipsoids decorating the columns - this is an incomplete list of the geometric details of the decoration of the Temple.
Columns
Columns of the central nave
The main load-bearing element in the design of the main volume of the church is the columns, which distribute the weight of the towers and vaults. Depending on the load, the columns differ in section thickness and height.
The sections of the base of the columns have the shape of stars with a different number of vertices (from 4 to 12, which is determined by the load on the column) with a slight parabolic rounding of the rays on the internal and external diameters. With height, the cross-sectional shape of the columns gradually turns from a star to a circle, which occurs due to an increase in the number of grooves, achieved by simultaneously turning the original star template to the left and right.
Interior of the Rosary portal
As you approach the vaults, the columns branch out, creating a never-before-seen structure in the form of a forest. This unusual architectural solution was initially dictated by structural necessity: the search for the center of gravity of the part of the vault resting on the column.
Interesting Facts
The unusual appearance of the temple made it one of the main attractions of Barcelona. According to the newspaper El Periódico de Catalunya, in 2006 the construction was visited by 2.26 million people, which puts the site on par in popularity with the Prado Museum and the Alhambra Palace
The construction, which began and continues exclusively with private donations, is being carried out on a site that does not belong to the Church and is not supervised by the episcopate. As a result, the naming of the Sagrada Familia church as a cathedral, sometimes observed in Russian-language texts and oral practice, is erroneous. It should be remembered that the main diocesan church of Barcelona remains the Cathedral of St. Eulalia (“La Seu”) in the Old Town, and not the Church of the Sagrada Familia.
In 2008, a group of more than 400 cultural figures in Spain called for work on the temple to be stopped. In their opinion, the creation of the great architect became a victim of careless, inept restoration for the sake of the tourism industry.
The speedy completion of construction is hampered by the complexity of making stone blocks that form the eccentric shape of the structure. According to the computer model, each of them requires individual processing and adjustment.
According to the Spanish government, completely
The cathedral will be completed no earlier than 2026.
On November 7, 2010, Pope Benedict XVI consecrated the Sagrada Familia temple, as it was recognized as fit for church services.
Excerpt from The Divine Comedy
Door of crowning with thorns
Door of Gethsemane
Door of the Passion of Christ
The Sagrada Familia is open daily from 9.00 to 20.00 from April to September and until 18.00 from October to March, except Christmas and New Year.
Cost: 8 euros, 11 euros with a guide, climbing the tower: 2 euros. Tours are available in English and Spanish. The tour lasts approximately 45 minutes. 
Links
http://www.andreev.org/. Wikipedia
. Official website of the Church of the Holy Family (English) (Spanish) www.sagradafamilia.cat
. Church of the Holy Family on Google Maps
Sources
All Gaudi. Published by Editorial Escudo de Oro, S.A. Barcelona
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