Sagrada Familia

Sagrada Familia - 8 euros, 3 euros (ages 7-10), under 6 = free, Daily 9:00am-8:00pm.

- Site about architectural details.

- Designed around the three stages of Jesus's life:

- Nativity, Passion, Glory (not started)

- Started in 1884. Represents the Holy Family - Jesus, Mary and Joseph. As Gaudi got older, he became more and more religious. Viewed as a sacred mission from God. Invested all of his money in the church and lived at the church by himself for 16 years. Ran craft workshops at he church to train skilled workforce to complete the church. Now, loyal craftsman spend a couple of years volunteering at the church after retirement.

- Deep in thought about the church when run over by a train in 1926. So ragged and poor, no one recognized him.

In 1936, Anarchists burned and smashed down everything - including workshops, plans and models.

- Plan to be finished by 2040 - medieval construction time table. "God's architect." Shooting for 2026, but not likely. Gaudi joked, "My client is not in a hurry." Dedicated 40 years of life to this.

- Porphry stone - only natural element strong enough to support the planned great dome.

8 to 12 spires one for each apostle have been built topped with Venetian mosaics.

When finished topmost tower will be more than 1/2 as tall again as those standing today. 12 Apostle spires 330 ft. 4 spires for the evangelists. Mary will be 400 feet. Jesus will be 550 feet and visible from the see.

- Gaudi disliked straight lines, said there were "No straight lines in nature." Tower outlines inspired by weird peaks in the Holy Mountains of Montserrat. Sculptures are outgrowth of stone.

- 8 towers spell out Latin prayer (Holy, Holy, Holy, Glory to God in the highest - Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus, Hosanna in Excelsis). When told that no one could see the writing, Gaudi said, " The angels can."

- 400 steps in each staircase.

Inside is a building site. First cathedral to be built "inside out". Visit Gaudi's simple tomb.

- Visit the museum showing how nature influenced Gaudi (e.g., shells etc.) .

- Find hanging model showing how Gaudi used gravity to calculate parabolas.

- Peek into the workshop where craftsman are working on the Glory portion.