La Sagrada Familia Basilica

Even one hasn't been to Barcelona yet, h/she may hear about this unbelievable fantastic basilica in Barcelona city. La Sagrada Familia cathedral welcomes you standing in the middle of the city with its unique towers. 
The words are not enough to describe this sacred place and we hope many Barcelona lovers have the chance to see La Sagrada Familia. I hope we will be able to describe this unfinished basilica of Antoni Gaudi.

La Sagrada Familia is an unfinished basilica in Barcelona city. It's known that La Sagrada Familia is a work of art of one of the greatest architecture in the world Antoni Gaudi. That's truly right but the first building of this cathedral was started to build by diocesan architect Francisco de Paula del Villar on 19 March 1882. At the end of 1883, the building of this wonder of art was assigned to Gaudi. He carried his work until his death which happened in 1926. This unique symbol of Barcelona city has still been tried to be finished with the donations from Barcelona people. That's why it's getting hard to complete this basilica. Of course, there is another big reason about going on building work like today's technology is still trying to understand the idea and style of  Gaudi's architecture but it's not the issue for the people living in Barcelona city as they see this basilica as a work in the hands of God and will of the people who have contributions with their donations. 

The Nativity Façade of this church shows the celebration of the Jesus and it also symbolizes Life of Joy or Christmas. The Passion Façade refers to passion of Jesus which means the death, the pain or the sacrifice. This passion façade faces in the west and so it takes the sunlight before sun goes down and this represent the symbolic effects of darkness and shadows. This passion façade has got three entrances which symbolizes hope, charity and faith and has got four towers representing apostles St James the Less, St Bartholomew, St Thomas and Philip from left to right. On the Nativity Façade over 40 different animals are represented.

Picture above shows the Glory Façade of La Sagrada Familia. It's called so as it represents the situation of the man within the general of creation like origins, problems and the road he should take and the purpose at last. When this amazing basilica is finished, this glory façade will be the main entrance to the church. 

When we enter we come across with Apse Façade which was devoted to Virgin Mary. A number of sculptures represent the founder of religious orders like St Antony, St Benedict or St Scholastica. Here for this fascinating there is a saying of Antoni Gaudi '' A church is the only thing worthy of representing the feelings of a people, for religion is the highest thing in people. When you walk inside of the basilica you will see many columns built in tree shapes which make you think you are in a forest. Inside the basilica there are stairs consisting of many steps which are enchanting! You can ride the elevator up to towers and the scenery is splendid but you have to walk down! That can make you a little dizzy but atmosphere of this sparkling basilica already enchants you before you rise the sky. When the church is finished it will have 18 towers; 12 towers will be dedicated to apostles, 4 to evangelists, one to Jesus and one to Mary. On the bell towers the words Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus and Hosanna in Excelsis can be seen which represents praising the Lord when people read them.

Inside La Sagrada Familia you can pray everywhere. There are many symbols and areas to pray. On the door placed in front engraving two doors of Passion Façade welcomes you. There are two doors look really statuesque. On the engraving doors there are words taken from Bible representing various languages including Catalan of course. Some words are highlighted with gold. It is really worth to look for the words referring sacred parts of the life. 

It's important to know the some details about this Barcelona historical place La Sagrada Familia entrance terms. First of all you should know that you may wait in the ticket queue nearly two hours! Yes, you heard right. If you plan Barcelona travel in summer then be sure that you have some water and suntan cream with you. Of course there is another way to buy tickets beforehand your visit to La Sagrada Familia. Here click on to buy online tickets. 

If you would like to buy your tickets from the counter below find ticket fee for the entrance to La Sagrada Familia.

Sagrada Familia Visit with a guide:

19,30€

17,30€ ( students and retired)

Sagrada Familia Visit with audio guide:

19,30€

16,30€ ( students and retired)

Sagrada Familia and visit to towers:

19,30€

17,30€ ( students and retired)

Sagrada Familia and Gaudi House Museum:

18,30€

17,30€ ( students and retired)

Sagrada Familia:

14,80€

12,80€ ( students and retired)

Visit Hours:

October to March 9.00 to 18.00 h

April to Spetember 9.00 to 20.00 h

25 and 26 December -1 and 6 January 9.00 to 14.00 h

How can you access to La Sagrada Familia? It's in the center of Barcelona city. If you like walking and staying in Plaça de Catalunia then you can walk and it takes around 20 or 25 minutes. It can be a good idea to see the around and Barcelona streets by walking. If you would like to take metro, there is a metro station in front of the Basilica. You should take Blue Line L5 and Purple Line L2. 

Finally we should inform that there are two shops in the Basilica; one is on the Passion Façade and the other is on the Nativity Façade. You can buy some souvenirs related to La Sagrada Familia and can find many photo books or historical publishing.

The Great Artist: Antoni Gaudi

When we decide a Barcelona travel and if we do some check on internet, Antoni Gaudi will be one of the first subjects that you come across. He is the most known and successful artist, architecture and pioneer of Art Nouveau of Spain, Barcelona city. 
In this article we will try to tell everyting about this unforgettable master Antoni Gaudi with full name Antoni Placid Guillem Gaudi i Cornet who lived in Barcelona city throughout  his whole life. Life of Antoni Gaudi, works of his art, his childhood and his disease which led him to be the greatest at his works.... All about Antoni Gaudi is below with his pictures. So who is Antoni Gaudi?

( In front of Sagrada Familia)

Antoni Gaudi's Birth and Childhood:

Antoni Gaudi was born on 25th July 1852 in Reus town of Catalunia as a son of craftsman. He is known as Catalan architecture in the world. He later became the pioneer of Barcelona city's most famous architectural works. In the world-wide childhood of many artists, authors or poets is really outstanding when compared to people who are not in literature or art world. Is it because interesting childhood makes them splendid and well known or talented artists? When someone has a different childhood, that means he generally will have unique life. Antoni Gaudi had a tough childhood. He had rheumatic problem and this illness made him miss the school, hang out with his friends. He missed an ordinary childhood. Gaudi generally observed everything around him such as animals, stones, plants or the nature. We will explain the natural symbols in his works below in other title. All these observations reflected in his works later. 

Antoni Gaudi's School Years:

Antoni Gaudi studied at architecture and it lasted nearly 8 years due to military and other issues but his school years started in the preschool of teacher Francesc Berenguer. There is an anecdote told by his teacher about how Gaudi's unique vision shows itself in his early childhood. His teacher at one of his lectures says that birds have wings to fly and Gaudi says that but chickens in our garden have wings too. They don't use it for fly but to run faster! 

At the age of eleven he attended to Escola Pia in Reus. Here, Gaudi gained his religious vision and proved how excellent student he was especially in geometry. At this school every Saturday, the Oficio Del Parvo De La Virgen was recited and his perception about the value of the divine history of the salvation of man through Christ incarnate and now in his works anyone can realise these reflections today.

In 1868 Gaudi moved to Barcelona in order to study architecture. After passing some entrance exam, Gaudi could have the chance to study at Upper Technical School of Architecture. Beside studying architecture Gaudi was interested in Philosophy, History, Economics and Aesthetics. He attended these classes at Provincial School and explained that having various architectural styles depend on not only aesthetic ideas but also social and political atmosphere. He improved himself nearly in every discipline.

In his youth Gaudi had to work to pay his school expenses. His first projects were for the church of Monastery of MontSerrat. Antoni Gaudi never compromised on quality. He was called 'Dandy'. He bought all his clothes from the first class stores. He had private barber. Only he didn't wear new shoes as he thought old shoes were more comfortable. He used to give his new shoes to his brother to wear for a while and after that he would wear those shoes.

Thanks to his innovative and daring ideas, Gaudi could work with many famous people and he had many famous projects. Nearly many old buildings were designed or built by Gaudi such as Park Guell, La Sagrada Familia, Palau Guell, Casa Mila, Casa Battlo, Casa Celvet, etc. We will explain these works in seperate articles in the following days.

When you make your Barcelona travel, it's too easy to come across one of the works of Gaudi. Barcelona city is surrrended by his splendid buildings and you can't take your eyes off them.

Antoni Gaudi wouldn't like to be popular and in his old age he didn't dress with much care and when he laid on the ground after the accident, nobody recognized him at the first look. On June 7, 1926 he was run over by a tram. It's said that Gaudi was walking back to see his work of art and he didn't realise the tram coming. After his tragic death at the age of 74, the taxi drivers refused to take him to hospital as they couldn't recognize him. On June 12, 1926 Antoni Gaudi died. Many people in Barcelona dressed in black for his funeral and his body was buried in the crypt of the edifice in which he worked for 43 years in Sagrada Familia.

Works of Antoni Gaudi:

El Capricho de Comillas (1883-1885)
Casa Calvet (1898-1899)
Bellesguard (1901-1908)
Palacio Episcopal de Astorga (1889-1893)
La Obrera Mataronense (1878-1883) 
Lampposts for the City of Barcelona (1878)
College of the Teresians (1888-1890)
Schools of Sagrada Familia  (1908-1909)
Casa Vicens (1883)
Finca Güell (1884-1887)
"Casa Botines", León (1891-1892)
The Crypt of the C hurch ofColònia Güell (1898-1916)
The Palau Güell (1886-1890)
Finca Miralles (1901-1902)
The Casa Batlló (1906-1908)
The Park Güell (1900-1914)
La Pedrera (Casa Milà, 1906-1910)
T he "Sagrada Família"