It is well known that Gaudí predicted the international interest the Sagrada Família would attract, saying “People will come from all over to see what we’ve done.” Over a century later, the figures confirm it: recently, the Temple has welcomed more than four million visitors each year -twenty million come by just to look at …
Continue reading » “Five reasons the Sagrada Família is a must-see”
In his time, Gaudí predicted that “people would come from all over to see the Sagrada Família,” and that the Temple would “influence art”. And this has been the case for the over one hundred years the Basilica has been under construction. Throughout this time, the Sagrada Família has welcomed visitors who have been key …
Stone has been and continues to be the main construction material for the architecture of the Sagrada Família. This is how Gaudí wanted it, and this is how it has been for more than 130 years. In previous blog posts, we’ve looked at the international provenance of the stone at the Basilica, necessitated by the …
The feast of Saint Joseph is an important day for the Sagrada Família for several reasons. Firstly, because it was the Asociación Espiritual de Devotos de San José that initially promoted the idea of building a temple in Barcelona devoted to the Holy Family. In addition, the cornerstone of the Temple was laid on 19 …
Continue reading » “Saint Joseph, noteworthy presence on the Nativity façade”
20 March is the first day of spring, the season when nature comes alive after its winter lethargy and shows off all its splendour. Gaudí found great inspiration in nature, and this influence was surely at least partially due to the fact that, as a child, he had rheumatic diseases that forced him to spend …
Continue reading » “Nature and its influence on the Sagrada Família: three examples”
The tower of the Virgin Mary, over the Temple apse, currently stands 110.65 metres tall and will be 138 when complete. It has eighteen levels of tensioned-stone panels already in place and construction will soon begin on its pinnacle. At the same time, the finishing touches have to be put on the rest of this …
Continue reading » “Pinnacles on the apse pediment: fruit of the Virgin Mary”
Stone is the main architectural element of the Sagrada Família, and it has been since construction began under the oversight of the Temple’s first architect, Francisco de Paula del Villar. When Gaudí took over the project in 1883, stone was still the primary material used. At that time, the stone came from Montjuïc, the mountain …
Continue reading » “Les Borges Blanques, Sagrada Família’s kilometre zero”
Construction of the Sagrada Família is full of challenges. One of them has undoubtedly been building the central lanterns. Now that these are on track and about to start changing the Temple profile, the next important challenge will be the main façade, the Glory façade. As we explained in a previous post, work is currently …
Continue reading » “Baptistery basements: activity returns to the Glory façade”
With the new year, activity has returned to the Sagrada Família in a big way. The past twelve months were intense, reaching several milestones, as we explained in a previous post. Possibly the most symbolic was that the central towers, under construction since 2016, surpassed the bell towers on the Nativity façade in height. These …
Continue reading » “2020: the year the Sagrada Família skyline changed forever”
There have been, are and will be many historical moments along the Sagrada Família’s path towards 2026, the year the Temple architecture is expected to be completed. And one of them has taken place this year that is about to finish: in 2019, the central towers grew so much that they are now taller than …
Continue reading » “2019: the year the central towers surpassed the towers on the Nativity façade”
