The Sagrada Familia

Of all Antoni Gaudi’s magnificent, surreal, fantastical architecture, and they are numerous, the Basílica de la Sagrada Família in Barcelona is like none other. It is spiritual, holy, outlandish, bizzare and stunning.

The basilica is a landmark, an icon, a global monument. When you stand at its foot, you are magnetically drawn upwards to its spires that belong in Rapunzel or Lord of the Rings: soaring high above the city, high among the clouds. These fairytale-like towers are guarded by even taller cranes working on more, never-ending construction of the Basilica that has not yet been completed in all these years, despite Gaudi’s death in decades ago. His grand plan for this church continues even today.

The Sagrada Familia is so gloriously unique and so fervent in its worship of God that even your cynical heart will believe in a Higher Spirituality, intangible but alive and present in this sanctum sanctorum.

At first glance, your senses reel in wonder and delight as your heart races upwards in awe across the many, many delights that the edifice is, and silent tears start to trickle down your awestruck face. This is unabashedly about God and His Glory. Agnostic, atheist….you cannot deny the electricity that whirls around this sacred space. It will humble you and make you believe, just by the sheer enormity of man’s worship of the Divine and in the Divine itself.

Two visits and I am still speechless: first from the ride up to those spires, with that view which would probably rival the Christ the Redeemer in Rio. Once you have gazed at some of the amazing Easter eggs Gaudi has embedded throughout his creation, you have to walk down. Step by step, the turning, twisting walk down turrets of stone, down the well of years of religious history.

Columns soar upwards, mimicking trees in a forest, up, up towards heaven. Sit down and gaze upwards and weep, weep at the munificent and the beautiful.

Sit in a corner and just allow it to soak into you. Sit in silence. Turn off the audio guide, meditate. Watch the sunlight stream through the stained glass, dancing on the tall columns and the pristine floors. Walk around and follow the sun streaming in through brightly coloured stained glass windows unlike no other, red, blue, green…..throwing patterns across whitewashed walls and an equally spare, beautiful altar.

I have no more words and leave you with a link for the facts.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sagrada_Fam%C3%ADliaADlia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antoni_Gaud%C3%AD

And many photos that cannot capture the absolute divine madness of Gaudi’s architecture and imagination. Make sure the Sagrada Familia is your first stop and go very early or very late to avoid busloads of tourists unless you happen to be one of them!

There is a simple pastry and coffee shop nearby, souvenir shops to get your fill of keychains and ashtrays. Don’t miss the souvenir shop inside the church with the most beautiful prints and memorabilia worth spending on.