Barcelona

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Sagrada Família

C/Mallorca 401

The Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família manages to be both Europe’s most fascinating building site and Barcelona’s most emblematic creation. The 1930s anarchists managed to set fire to Gaudí’s intricate plans and models for the building; ongoing work is a matter of conjecture and controversy, with the finishing date of 2020 looking increasingly optimistic. The church’s first mass is scheduled for Sant Josep’s day (19 March) 2007, 125 years after its foundation stone was laid.

Gaudí, who is buried beneath the nave, dedicated over 40 years to the project, the last 14 exclusively, and the crypt, the apse and the nativity façade, which were completed in his lifetime, are the most beautiful elements of the church. The latter, facing C/Marina, looks at first glance as though some careless giant has poured candlewax over a Gothic cathedral, but closer inspection shows every protuberance to be an intricate sculpture of flora, fauna or human figure, combining to form an astonishingly moving stone tapestry depicting scenes from Christ’s life. The other completed façade, the Passion, which faces C/Sardenya, is more austere, with vast diagonal columns in the shape of bones and haunting sculptures by Josep Maria Subirachs. Japanese sculptor Etsuro Sotoo has chosen to adhere more faithfully to Gaudí’s intentions, and has fashioned six more modest musicians at the rear of the temple, as well as the exuberantly coloured bowls of fruit to the left of the nativity façade. The highlight of any trip, however, is a vertiginous hike up one of the towers (you can take a lift), affording unprecedented views through archers’ windows.

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