Sagrada Familia

Tree of Life

Not sure what I expected before we set out for the Sagrada Familia. Construction of the church began in 1915 and Gaudi had dropped all other projects the year before to dedicate himself to this enormous project. He died in 1926 after a tragic accident leaving his project unfinished - though in part, this was his intention, wanting his project to always grow and evolve. The people of Barcelona have taken Gaudi and his project to their hearts and when the church's centenary approached in 2015, the project remained incomplete.


The church is deep in the new city and needs a metro ride to get there. Fortunately there are a couple of stops nearby taking you to within a few steps of the queues to get in. I imagine during tourist season the place is mobbed; as it was November was the perfect time to visit.

The scale of the church is very difficult to grasp. Although the streets about the square create a large space around it, the towers are so high its only possible to see individual parts of the building, unable to step far enough back to see it in its entirety. Still, I'm not sure that is what Gaudi wanted you to see anyway - you need to get up close and personal with this church and let the cumulative effect of its parts overwhelm you.

Entrance

Of course the church can be seen from almost everywhere in the city provided you can escape street-level to see the skyline. From a distance it looks like some strange encrusted Gothic edifice. but as you approach it, from below you begin to get a sense of the place and its scale. You can climb up through the fabric of the building to get a glimpse of city around, down to the shoreline and inland to the surrounding hills. But after climbing up through the towers to get closer to the roof you realise what an unbelievable structure this is. Colour on the outside of a church; pineapples, pine cones, bunches of grapes, sheaves of corn, whatever next.

Light through Stained Glass

But this is most definitely a church; one entrance is encrusted with almost baroque style mouldings and sculpture telling various stories from scripture. Another, an exceptional 20th century expression of Gaudi's own faith with angular sculpture hanging from tall organic buttresses . Yet another, still work in progress, proclaims the Lord's prayer in all the languages of the world amidst sheets of glass and concrete pillars reaching to the sky. It is this combination of excruciating detail and over-scale enormity that seems to be both inclusive and expansive simultaneously. Of course, unable to see everything at once, these disparate styles do not conflict with one another and yet, once you know they are there, perhaps they inform each other.

That barely prepares you for what is within.

The bright sunshine of Spain explodes within the church, filtered through glass and other devices to fill the space with light. The roof is already high above us but the stretching columns that look like ordinary sticks of celery, seem to push further into the sky. And again all around these huge components are the tiniest of details. A truly wonderful place; everyone looking up with their mouths hanging open in awe.

Light above altar

While we were there, the silence was quite surprising given the number of people milling about looking upwards - with or without a camera trying to take it all in. I imagine, in use this must be an extraordinary place to worship in. Definitely expressing a positive energy. This is not an oppressive, guilt-ridden, secretive building but an exuberant exclamation of faith that any & all can connect with.