Not to miss - the fairy tale interior of the Sagrada Familia

Anyone who goes to Barcelona must see the notorious Sagrada Familia, a large Roman Catholic church. Although incomplete, it is already a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Here is a brief history

"Though construction of Sagrada Familia had commenced in 1882, Gaudi took over in 1883, transforming the project with his architectural and engineering style — combining Gothic and curvilinear, Art Nouveau forms with ambitious structural columns and arches.

Gaudi devoted his last years to the project and at the time of his death in 1926, less than a quarter of the project was complete. Sagrada Familia's construction progressed slowly as it relied on private donations and was interrupted by the Spanish Civil War — only to resume intermittent progress in the 1950s. Construction passed the mid-point in 2010 with some of the project's greatest challenges remaining and an anticipated completion date of 2026 — the centennial of Gaudí's death."

Go to the Sagrada Familia page on Wikipedia to read more about this amazing project.

I found the interior to be the most impressive and beautiful, so I'll start there


The columns represent trees - see how they branch out at the top? They're symbolize "protecting" the congregation. Many of the shapes throughout the cathedral are taken from nature, which I think adds to it's beauty.




The gorgeous ceiling




They've yet to add stained glass to some of the windows


They had a museum in the "basement" featuring models, original gargoyles that they've had to recast, information about Gaudi, etc.

This is one of the many architectural renderings they had on display in the cathedral

Three below are from the exterior

I liked the little details like these roses






Three exterior images above from the Sagrada Familia Wikipedia page.

I'm not sure what to make of the spires with fruit and corn on them...
via Webshots

Anyone here seen the cathedral?

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