Gaudi's Masterpiece (4 of 14)

Sagrada Familia or 'Basilica and Expiatory Church of the Holy Family' or what I call Gaudi's masterpiece is a large Roman Catholic church in Barcelona designed by Antoni Gaudi.

It is still incomplete and a continued work in progress. Construction started in 1882 and is projected to be completed in 2026 (100 years after Gaudi's death.) Construction is slow going because of it's unique detailed designs and because it is completely financed by the public and private donations.

A model of the completed basilica.

When Gaudi died, the basilica was only 10-15% complete. The Spanish Civil War in 1936 also interrupted the building process.

You can see the cranes still at work.

Gaudi's design of Sagrada Familia included double aisles, an ambulatory with seven chapels, 18 spires representing the twelve apostles, four evangelists, the virgin Mary and Jesus (as the tallest spire). As of 2010, four spires have been built. Christ's spire surmounted by a giant cross will be 560 feet in height making it the tallest church building in the world.

Everything is so ornate and finely detailed from the floors to the ceilings..

The door

The floor as we enter into the church

The Church will have three facades: the Nativity facade to the east, the Passion facade to the west and the Glory facade to the south (not yet completed).

 My favorite part was the Nativity facade...

We were able to go up on one of the 13 (planned) towers. Two have elevator access and only 8 are currently complete.

A beautiful view from the top of a tower.

You can see the 'neon lipstick' building in the background.

Each tower is 20 stories high and we had to walk down a very narrow spiral staircase. That was a workout! My legs could not stop shaking afterwards.

THIS is a narrow....

... staircase!

And SO spiral.. I literally touched every part of the rail going down!

The interior of the Sagrada was breath-takingly ornate...

Some creative photography..

What do you see Kyle?

NEXT UP: Medieval Barcelona