Visiting La Sagrada Família in Barcelona may well be one of the most evolving experiences I have had as a traveller. Simply, it’s indescribable. You have to see it to get the most out of it. I’ve highlighted briefly my take-home messages from my experience visiting this basilica in my last post. Barcelona is a beautiful and unique city and this is characterised by its icon, La Sagrada Família. Here are 5 amazing things I learnt about La Sagrada Família during my recent stay there:
1) Three different facades represent different themes.
The first facade, the east-facing facade, is the Nativity facade, which is currently the main entrance to La Sagrada Família. This facade celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ, life and nature in general. The Nativity facade was the first to be completed, in 1930, and therefore it is the facade that bears the most of Gaudí’s influence. There is so much detail in the Nativity facade and it seems impossible to absorb each and every element upon just one visit. Gaudí’s sculptures here reflect both nature (intricate carvings of plants and animals) as well as the Catalan identity (local traditions, folklore and costumes). The Nativity facade has three portals; on the left is the portal of Hope (dedicated to Joseph), on the right is the portal of Faith (dedicated to the Virgin Mary), and in the middle is the portal of Charity (dedicated to Jesus). Keep your eye out for the tree of life surrounded by doves – it is spectacular.
The Passion facade faces west and it tells the story of Christ’s crucifixion. Whilst Gaudí began designing this in 1917, work didn’t begin on this until the 1950s and it was completed in 1976. The artist and sculptor Josep Maria Subirachs was in charge of the facade. What stands out is the stark contrast between it and the Nativity facade. None of the hope, joy and beauty that exuded from the Nativity facade is present here. Depicting Christ’s betrayal, torture and death, the Passion facade is very grim and austere. It conjures up an entirely different set of emotions.
The south-facing facade, the Glory facade, intends to highlight the message of Christ’s teachings. Construction started on this facade in 2002 and it remains unfinished. This will be the largest and most striking of the three and will show one’s ascension to God. It will also depict various scenes such as Hell, Purgatory, and will include elements such as the Seven Deadly Sins and the Seven Heavenly Virtues. I can’t wait to see it in its entirety!
Above: The Nativity facade.
2) 18 of its incredibly tall towers represent key figures in the New Testament.
Twelve of the towers represent the twelve apostles of Jesus Christ and four represent the four evangelists. Another tower, the second tallest and topped with a star, is dedicated to the Virgin Mary. Christ himself is honoured through the final and tallest tower which is currently in construction. Once completed, the Christ tower will stand at 172.5 metres tall, which is a deliberate figure. The hill of Montjuïc, which is considered the holy mountain in Barcelona, lies only 0.5 metres above the tower of Jesus Christ. I hope I can visit again to witness the final tower, which will include a glass elevator and spiral staircase that takes you to the top of it!
Above: The exterior of La Sagrada Família
3) Nature is a key feature.
Gaudí drew huge inspiration from nature in his work. He once said that “there are no straight lines or sharp corners in nature. Therefore, buildings must not have straight lines or sharp corners. The straight line belongs to man, the curved line belongs to God”.
The Nativity facade exemplifies the influence of nature on Gaudí’s work on La Sagrada Família. Here, you see intricately carved depictions of foliage and fauna. As you’ll see in the Gaudí museum located in the temple, Gaudí used the technique of creating moulds of all sorts of vegetables, leaves and fruits and animals in plaster to help him create the most realistic impressions of life.
Furthermore, once you enter the church, it truly feels like you are walking amongst a serene and majestic forest with absolutely enormous trees that reach up to the heavens. The 36 huge columns resemble tree trunks, with “branches” emulated from them. Each column is made from a different material (and therefore colour), which gives the feel that each “tree” is of a different variety.
There are a multitude of other parallels to nature in the building. On the tops of spires lie beautifully coloured fruits. On the Nativity facade, he chose Spring fruit such as loquats, cherries, plums, peaches and pears. Gorgeous.
Above: The interior of La Sagrada Família
4) Symbolism is everywhere.
This perhaps was the most astounding aspect for me. If the above points don’t highlight this, then perhaps this will. Three extraordinary examples that stuck with me include:
The use of the number 7.5. The design of La Sagrada Familia was chosen by Gaudí to be 7.5 metres. Why this number? Some religions propose that 7 represents good and 8 represents evil. Therefore, 7.5. falls midway between good and evil, a key theme in the Bible.
Similarly, on the Passion facade, you will see a curious “magic square”. This features a series of numbers with its columns, rows and diagonals all adding up to the same number. The number is 33, which is the age that Jesus Christ was when he died on the cross.
I adored the stained glass windows and once you enter you can really appreciate their beauty. Of note, is the varying colours on both the Nativity and Passion facades. On the Nativity facade, the colours are predominantly yellow, blue and green which represent the birth of Jesus. Conversely, the Passion facade’s stained glass windows are orange and red, representing water, light and resurrections. When you’re standing in the centre of the church, you can admire the contrasting colours to the east and west. It’s quite spectacular and meaningful at the same time.
Above: The Passion facade featuring the magic square.
Above: The stained glass windows on the east side of the building (Nativity facade).
Above: The stained glass windows on the west side of the building (Passion facade).
5) It intends to hold meaning not just for Christians or Catalans.
The door to the Glory facade, designed by Subirachs and completed in 2009, contains The Lord’s Prayer written in Catalan in the forefront. However, the prayer is also expressed in 49 other languages (in alphabetic order: Albanian, Arabic, Aramaic, Aranese, Basque, Berber, Bulgarian, Catalan, Chinese, Coptic, Croat, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Esperanto, Estonian, Finnish, French, Gaelic, Galician, German, Greek, Guarani, Hebrew, Hungarian, Icelandic, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Latin, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Quechua, Rumanian, Russian, Sanskrit, Sardinian, Serb, Slovenian, Spanish, Swahili, Swedish, Tagalog, Tibetan, Ukrainian, Vietnamese, and Wolof)!! This is meant to symbolise the unity between different cultures regardless of their language or religion. I thought this was very cool.
Above: The door to the Glory facade.
When and how to visit:
I strongly recommend you buy tickets in advance and online. Opt for a ticket with an audio guide or a small group guided tour, it’s the only way to get the most out of this experience.
I also suggest you attend on a weekday early in the morning (between 9am and 10am). Firstly, there should be less crowds and secondly the most light will stream in at this time making it a beautiful time to admire the stained glass windows.
Whenever or however you visit it, and I hope you can trust me for this, you won’t believe your eyes and it will stay with you for a long time to come.