Adventure #3

I finally have a day off and can continue my posts about Elsie and Matty's trip to Barcelona. So to pick up where I left off. Matt and I had just visited Park Guell. We walked down to see Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau. Just a cool building built at the turn of the century. Of course it was under construction. We took a picture to compare when we come back to Barcelona one day.


I cut my blog post of our first full day in Barcelona in half because I wanted to dedicate most of this post to one of the most amazing things I have seen in my life. La Sagrada Familia. A church designed by Antoni Gaudi. Construction began in 1882 and the catholic church is still not complete! They project that construction will be finished by 2025 or so. La Sagrada Familia relies on private donations and is therefore the reason for it's incompletion. Here is a computer graphic of what the church will look like when it is finished.


Matt and I first approached the church from the Nativity facade, which mainly contain scenes in Jesus Christ's early years. The scenes are surrounded by elements from nature which is a classic Gaudi design. There are three porticoes representing faith, hope, and charity which are separated by two columns. At the base of the first column is a turtle meant to symbolize life set in stone. At the base of the second column are two chameleons meant to symbolize change. Above the charity portico rises the Tree of Life. There are four columns each representing a different apostle, Matthias, Barnabas, Jude, and Simon.






Matt and I paid to go inside and ride the elevator to the top of one tower. We were very high up. It was amazing being able to see the top of the church up close. We were able to walk between towers at different levels. To go down we took a stone spiral staircase with an insane drop to the bottom. No rail of course. Europe style.









After the towers Matt and I sat to marvel at the Passion facade, which is meant to represent Jesus Christ's suffering during the crucifixion. The passion facade has architecture and statues made of plain and harsh lines. There are three porticoes which represent the same virtues as the Nativity facade. The six columns are meant to look like sequoia tree trunks. There are again four pillars each representing an apostle, James, Thomas, Philip, and Bartholomew. When the church is finished there will also be a Glory facade which will represent the path to God. I cannot wait to see it one day.







The inside of La Sagrada Familia is impressive. Gaudi wanted to have as many windows as possible to let natural light in. I think he was successful.






Matt and I took the metro back to our hotel and ate dinner at a little sandwich place close by. For a treat I got an ice cream. Good end to an amazing day. I will leave you with a very large image of one of my favorite parts of La Sagrada Familia. The ceiling. Gaudi made the columns to look like trees growing in a forest.