Sagrada Família, Antoni Gaudí’s masterpiece, is one of the most famous and most visited buildings in the world. This impressive temple in Barcelona attracts worshipers and tourists not only with its exceptional architectural style, but also with its never-ending story.
The development of the pearl of Catalan architecture spans five generations and even today, more than 140 years after the foundation stone was laid, construction is still ongoing. Let’s take a look at the fascinating history and current state of this unique building.
The beginnings of construction and the shape of the temple
Construction began in 1882. And today, little is known that Antoni Gaudí was not behind the project from the beginning. The first architect was Francisco de Paula del Villar, and his design included a neo-Gothic style. However, after only one year, Villar left the project due to disagreements with the client regarding the cost of materials.
In 1883, the then young and promising architect Antoni Gaudí was involved in the project. And he radically changed the whole concept. Although Gaudí was also based on Gothic, inspired by natural forms and Christian symbolism, he transformed the temple into an organically shaped art nouveau-modernist building, a design for the church of the future.
Gaudí’s design for the Sagrada Família includes a total of eighteen towers, arranged according to height. The lowest will be the towers of the twelve apostles, above them will be the four evangelists, the tower of the Virgin Mary, and the highest tower will belong to Jesus Christ.
Accordingly, the symbols of the respective characters will also be finished on the tips. In the case of the Evangelists, it is a winged bull like St. Luke, an angel like St. Matthew, an eagle for St. John, and a winged lion like St. Mark. An illuminated star was placed on the massive tower of the Virgin Mary in 2021.
Entrance fee and number of visitors
- Although the Sagrada Família is still not finished, it is already one of the most visited monuments in Spain. It is visited annually by millions of tourists, for the year 2023 that was a total of 4.7 million. The entrance fee is 26 euros for a basic tour, roughly 670 crowns.
- Due to overwhelming interest, tickets are recommended book online in advance, which is especially true in the main tourist season.
The tallest tower of Jesus Christ, topped with a huge cross, reaches a height of 172.5 meters, surpassing the current record holder, the Gothic cathedral in Ulm, Germany, by 11 meters. With this, the Sagrada Família will take over the world’s tallest building. However, it will not be higher than the Montjuïc mountain in Barcelona, as Gaudí believed that human works should not exceed God’s creation.
The towers will also be decorated with Eucharist motifs such as ears of corn, grapes and chalices. Special bells are to be placed in the towers, which will be driven by the wind and their sound will spread into the interior of the temple. In 2024, only one of them is installed so far.
Gaudí worked on the building for more than 40 years in total and devoted the last 12 years of his life exclusively to work on the Sagrada Família. During Gaudí’s lifetime, the chapel of St. Joseph in the crypt was opened and the bell tower of the apostle Barnabas was completed, the author of the design did not see much more with his own eyes. When he died prematurely in an accident in 1926, only 10 to 15 percent of the temple was completed.
Continuation of construction after Gaudí’s death
After Gaudí’s death, his pupil Domènec Sugranyes took over the project. In the 1930s, however, construction was interrupted by the Spanish Civil War, during which most of Gaudí’s plans and records about the temple were destroyed.
In 1939, architect Francesc de Paula Quintana took over the administration of the building. He was able to continue construction thanks to the remains of materials salvaged from Gaudí’s workshop, as well as a project reconstructed on the basis of already published plans and photographs. In the second half of the 20th century, work on the temple came to full life again.
The task of continuing Gaudí’s vision was gradually taken up by other architects such as Isidre Puig i Boada or Lluís Bonet i Garí. Since 1979, Mark Burry – executive architect and researcher of the Sagrada Família temple – has also been involved in the construction.
Burry also applies modern technology to reconstruct and complement Gaudí’s original plans. As stated by the server Metropolitan Barcelonafor example, he also used aviation software to solve many technical aspects of Gaudí’s design.
Photo: Pixabay
The interior of the temple resembles a forest.
In 2005, the building was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. She reached another milestone in 2010, when she was consecrated by the then Pope Benedict XVI.
On November 12, 2023, the four towers of the Evangelists were inaugurated in the temple. They reach a height of 135 meters and, as part of the central group of towers, surround the future main tower of Jesus Christ. In total, five of the six central towers are completed, along with the Virgin Mary tower. Even the last, central tower of Jesus Christ is already under construction, completion is officially scheduled for 2026.
The surprising fact is that for almost 130 years the construction took place without an official building permit. It was discovered that the permit was missing only in 2016. So the Barcelona Building Authority issued it three years later, but with a limitation of validity only until 2026.
The Sagrada Família is also unique in that its construction was funded entirely by donations, collections and entrance fees. Gaudí believed that such a sanctified project should be built thanks to the people, not governments or the church. This tradition continues today – the building does not use public funds and relies on contributions from individuals. That is also why the construction takes so many decades.
St. Mary’s Tower and finished details:
