Architecture on Steroids: Outside La Sagrada Familia
Majestically standing in the center of town… towers soaring into the heavens, this architectural miracle has a fascinating story. Antoni Gaudi, the genius behind this UNESCO site, was born in the Catalan region in 1852. Deeply religious, he considered his works a tribute to God. Gaudi described this project as the bible made of stone. We stood back and took a shot of the result of Gaudi’s passion.
Continuously under construction for well over 100 years, the photo on the left shows a piece of heavy equipment dwarfed by the size of the structure. Probably not noticeable if I hadn’t pointed it out… Upon completion, there will be a total of 18 towers on the exterior of the cathedral. Twelve towers will represent the apostles, four will represent the evangelists, one that stands out is dedicated to the Virgin Mary and of course, the tower reaching closest to the heavens… is for Jesus.
Gaudi’s design included three facades. On the left is the Nativity. Originally designed in the Catalan Modernist style, Gaudi was alive during most of the creation of this section. The Nativity includes three gates which represent Faith, Hope and Charity. The largest of three gates hold sculptures o three Kings. Also in this portion are Joseph and Mary with Jesus.
Built half a century after the Nativity facade, this section is much more modern. Jesus crucified on the cross dominates this section.
Sharing the facade with the Passion, is this “magic square. Every direction adds up to 33… the age of Jesus when he died.
Also included in the general area of the Passion, is a sculpture of Judas kissing Jesus. The kiss was intended to show priests, Pharisees and Roman soldiers that this was the man they seek. Notice the snake… this signifies betrayal.
Leading into the main entrance of the Passion facade are two giant doors. Printed in the Catalan language is the new testament. The doors are green in color. For the most part, the wording is black in color. The only exception are the most important words, such as Jesus, are raised and gold.
Originally, architect Francisco de Paula del Villar was tasked with building a church in the center of Barcelona. Inspired to bring attention to Christianity to an area becoming increasingly secular, the first architect resigned. Gaudi took over as lead architect and took the project to a new level. His style of design was not necessarily on paper, instead he preferred to create scale models. Soon Gaudi was obsessed with creating models to tell the story of the bible as well as bringing back an interest in the arts.
When Gaudi died, only the only completed areas were the Nativity facade, one bell tower, the apse and the crypt. Knowing his design was so intricate, it would never be completed in his lifetime, Gaudi guessed it would be an ongoing project for at least 200 years. Three additional bell towers were completed four years after his death. In the 1930’s, the Spanish Civil war stopped all construction. Unfortunately, many of Gaudi’s scaled models were destroyed.
Here are a couple more sculptures telling stories from the bible. On the left, this modernistic rendition of Roman soldiers playing dice for the clothes of Jesus. On the right, is Jesus carrying his cross to be crucified.
A month wouldn’t be long enough to spend on documenting and describing all of the symbolic sculptures and artwork on the exterior of Gaudi’s obsession. So I’ll end with the most recent substantial addition. In 2021, after the COVID shut down, work resumed and this star was added. It represents the Star of Bethlehem… the perfect twelve point star sits atop the second tallest tower… in honor of Virgin Mary.
