The Sagrada Família

THE SAGRADA FAMILIA

The expiatory temple of the Sagrada Familia, known as the Sagrada Familia, is one of the most famous temples of the Catalan Modernism that now is one of de symbols of Barcelona with la pedrera, la casa batlló... The 1891 started the works directed by Antoni Gaudí but the Sagrada Familia is an unfinished work . It is located in the neighborhood of the Sagrada Familia, the district of the Eixample, in de middle of the city. The Sagrada Familia is a Catholic church, but not a cathedral. The cathedral of Barcelona is a Santa Eulalia.

The original project presented by Gaudí was building the temple with one big central tower 170 meters high, dedicated to Jesus Christ. A total of 18 tall towers are called for, representing in ascending order of height the Twelve Apostles, the four Evangelists, the Virgin Mary and, tallest of all, Jesus Christ.

The great doors of the façade reproduce words from the Bible in various languages. Parts of the unfinished church and Gaudí's models and workshop were destroyed during the war by Catalan anarchists. The present design is based on reconstructed versions of the lost plans as well as on modern adaptations.

In 1987 Josep Mª Subirachs started do design the passion facade of Sagrada Familia. He put two conditions: he wanted to live inside the Sagrada Familia and he wanted to develop his own style without being imposed anything.

Recently, the Ministry of Public Works of Spain has projected the construction of a tunnel for the high speed train just under where the principal façade of the temple has to be built. The ministry say that the project poses no risk to the church, the engineers and architects of the temple disagree as there is no guarantee that the tunnel will not affect the stability of the building.

According to data from the year 2004, the Sagrada Família is the monument most visited in Spain, even more than the Alhambra and the Prado museum.