I first experienced Barcelona 19 years ago when Rita and I were dating and was based in London and Rita was living in Frankfurt. One long weekend we chose Barcelona and we still talk about the great time we had here. Barcelona is the Capital of Catalonia and it has its own language, history and culture (very similar to Quebec's place in Canada).
Barcelona was founded by the Phoenicians and Carthaginians over 2,000 years ago and has been occupied by Romans, Visigoths, Moors and Franks before becoming the capital of the newly formed Catalan nation in 988. It is now the 2nd largest city in Spain after Madrid but for tourists the compact and very walkable Old City is where we spend the majority of our time.
Today we took a full day touring major sights created by Antoni Gaudi (1852-1926), Barcelona's most famous artist of Modernism. Modernism is Barcelona's unique contribution to the European Art Nouveau movement and its heyday ran from 1888-1906. Gaudi's unique style also strongly influenced Salvador Dali, his younger Catalan contemporary. Gaudi's created many unique architectural masterpieces in Barcelona but we will visit his most famous works including the unfinished Sagrada Familia, Park Guell and La Pedrera. To give them their due, we will visit them one at a time.
Sagrada Familia (Holy Family Church)
The church began in 1883 and is expected to be completed by 2026, the 100th anniversary of Gaudi's death. Gaudi worked on the church for 43 years until his death in 1926. The construction since then has been inspired by Gaudi's long range vision and drawings as most of his blueprints were destroyed during the Spanish Civil War. It is truly an inspired original design inside and out.
Barcelona was founded by the Phoenicians and Carthaginians over 2,000 years ago and has been occupied by Romans, Visigoths, Moors and Franks before becoming the capital of the newly formed Catalan nation in 988. It is now the 2nd largest city in Spain after Madrid but for tourists the compact and very walkable Old City is where we spend the majority of our time.
Today we took a full day touring major sights created by Antoni Gaudi (1852-1926), Barcelona's most famous artist of Modernism. Modernism is Barcelona's unique contribution to the European Art Nouveau movement and its heyday ran from 1888-1906. Gaudi's unique style also strongly influenced Salvador Dali, his younger Catalan contemporary. Gaudi's created many unique architectural masterpieces in Barcelona but we will visit his most famous works including the unfinished Sagrada Familia, Park Guell and La Pedrera. To give them their due, we will visit them one at a time.
Sagrada Familia (Holy Family Church)
The church began in 1883 and is expected to be completed by 2026, the 100th anniversary of Gaudi's death. Gaudi worked on the church for 43 years until his death in 1926. The construction since then has been inspired by Gaudi's long range vision and drawings as most of his blueprints were destroyed during the Spanish Civil War. It is truly an inspired original design inside and out.
The Nativity Facade is the only part of the church built by Gaudi. The theme of this facade is Christ's birth. The newer construction is lighter in color
The Passion Facade's four spires was designed by Gaudi andwere completed in 1976. But the intricate lower part was only inspired by Gaudi's designs and completed in 2005. It is the story of Christ's torture and crucifixion.
The interior floor plan is based on traditional Spanish church design, in the shape of a Latin cross. 300 feet long and 200 feet wide and 150 feet high, the area encompasses 48,000 sq. ft. and can handle up to 8,000 worshipers.
The massive stained glass windows let light filter through the 56 pillars washing the floor with colored light. The pillars are meant to represent trees and are decorated with branches, leaves and knot like capitals.
A larger view of the Sagrada Familia showing it's massive size. It will be even bigger by 2026 as they have to tear down several apartment buildings and a street to complete Gaudi's vision of a grand entrance to the church (on the left side of this picture). In the 1950's the Mayor of Barcelona sold of this section of land believing the building would never be completed. Now the city is in the process of buying back thee buildings built on this land.
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