Travel: La Sagrada Familia

The biggest reason I decided to go to Barcelona was to see La Sagrada Familia, but I only a few things about it namely:

• It was still under construction
• It had been under construction for a very very long time
• People said it was an architectural inspiration and marvel

So with this little bit of knowledge I booked a plane ride from Madrid to Barcelona on AirEuropa, travel time approximately 1 hour. After packing all of my travel belongings I left Hotel Infantas early in the morning for Barcelona and a tour of La Sagrada Familia the same day.

Most pictures I’ve seen of La Sagrada Familia are of the outside, which to me looks somewhat organic in design. It looks a little like heavenly designed coral. The spires are easily recognizable in photos from tourists, in movies, and in TV shows.

The side above is not one of the entrances and the side that has the altar and where a sermon would be given from. The layout below provides a general view of the internal layout inside. The above video is outside the bottom of the layout below. While these bricks were laid decades on top of decades ago, they look very fresh as they were recently cleaned in the past few years.

After entering via the group entrance we stood outside the entrance where the nativity scene is depicted. The style of sculpture on this side of the building is very realistic and includes references to the wise men, the angels, and the shepherds in the story of the birth of Christ. There is even a sculpture of Gaudi, the architect, at his age when this section started being built.

I felt I could look at the intricacies for hours if not more. The longer you look, the more details you find. The attention and detail speak to the commitment of Gaudi and those involved in the construction.

Our tour guide, an energetic man with three names, eagerly told us more than I could remember about this side of the building. So I took a picture of one of the placards of information that provides additional detail about the Nativity Facade.

Our tour guide also explains that the core concept for La Sagrada Familia is to honor the holy family, Mary, Joseph, and Jesus. The facades, layout, sculptures all revolve around the story of the family, but mostly the life of Christ.

A moment to talk about our tour guide, he worked for the Julia Travel S.L. company, which I booked through TripAdvisor. The office is located about half a block from La Sagrada Familia and we met there prior to the tour.

He had three names, a Catalonian, English and Spanish. I only remember his English name, which was Vincent. He was energetic, I hope to have that level of enthusiasm at that age. He was eager to share his knowledge and provided the tour in both English and Spanish.

We were warned before entering La Sagrada Familia, “When some people enter, they become overwhelmed and begin to cry.” This was confirmed by a friend of mine from Canada later, who posted on one of my Instagram photos, that when they entered the main area they looked around then up and started weeping because of how beautiful it was inside.

I was not prepared for the beauty held inside La Sagrada Familia. The light spilled into the entrance with colors and vibrance, that was entirely unexpected. The columns sprouted from the ground and reached to the ceiling as if reaching for sunlight. This made sense based on what our tour guide said next.

“Gaudi was sick as a child, and his parents were told that he could never go outside. So during his childhood he was confined indoors. It was then that he became obsessed with nature and the outdoors. See the columns all around you? There are exactly 52, because that is how many weeks there are in the year” was Vincent’s introduction to Gaudi.

“Look up!” and gestured with his hands reaching as high as they could as he stood nearly on his tip toes.

“The tops of the columns are like palm trees”

This really provided the context to what the seeming organic design of La Sagrada Familia meant to Gaudi. He brought what he saw outside his home inside a building. He recreated nature inside in a way that I’v never seen before.

A few additional photos of the interior.

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The Exit and Crucifixion

The style of sculptures as you enter the La Sagrada Familia are joyful, realistic and full of hope. They describe the beginning of Christ’s life and the hope for people.

When you exist La Sagrada Familia the sculptures are best described as stark and in a cubist art form. There is a sadness and sharpness to the sculptures.

Gaudi’s symbolism continues outside, on the outside there is a square of numbers that if you add left to right, up to down or diagonal the numbers add up to 33, because this is how old Christ was at the crucifixion.

The photo below is on the other side of the exit. Each side, each section tells part of a story. It can be overwhelming to look at each section with the swarm of people around you, but it is worthwhile to try. Spending a few minutes barely gives enough time to really see everything.

There is a sculpture on the rear of Gaudi, as there is at the nativity entrance, at the age he was when this section was completed. I couldn’t identify the particular sculpture that Vincent pointed out, however in the museum part of La Sagrada Familia there is a replica of the Gaudi sculpture behind glass. As shown below:

The Spire

If you take a guided tour you can also take a ride up one of the spires to an observation deck that overlooks Barcelona. It’s an amazing view and I would highly recommend to add this to your trip. While you take an elevator up, you will be walking down the spire which is a spiral staircase. There are windows on the way down, stop a moment at a few and take in the view.

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Conclusion

La Sagrada Familia is amazing with so much symbolism it can be difficult to take it all in, but it’s an amazingly rewarding experience. It’s also an example of how a masterpiece doesn’t have to be finished, of how something with grand influence doesn’t have to be perfect or finished. I highly recommend a visit to this amazing place.

Traveling the world, learning about it and trying to save it means finding out how the world’s beauty reflects on your own life and how it can inspire you.