Perhaps the most amazing site (for me) in all of Spain was the yet to be completed "Temple of the Sacred Family", or "Sagrada Familia" in Spanish. Construction began in 1882 and they hope to complete it by 2026. This too is the design of Gaudi who worked on this project for 40 years, devoting the last 15 years of his life to working on it full time. This is his most famous work.
None of it is finished, so what you'll see in the pictures just gives you an idea of the scale. When completed there will be 18 total towers, 12 330 foot towers representing the Disciples, 4 taller towers will surround the two central towers, a 400 foot tower of Mary and the tallest representing Jesus Christ and being 550 feet tall! It is absolutely massive. The interior must be 75-100 feet tall, all filled with scaffolding and construction equipment.
The east side facade, called the "Nativity Facade" was the only part completed in Gaudi's lifetime, (and has the most pictures here). It has a bunch of carvings of scenes related to the nativity and Christ's youth. It's hard to get a perspective, but we guess that each of these figures are several feet tall.
The guy who writes the tour books we use, Rick Steves, has traveled Europe for more than 30 years. His quote says it all. "If there's any building on earth I would like to see, it's the finished Sagrada Familia."
No comments:
Post a Comment