Sagrada Familia

Saturday, March 07, 2009

Today we went, with Shelby, to see The Temple de la Sagrada Familia
By Antonio Gaudi.
La Sagrada Familia is one of Gaudi's most famous works in Barcelona. It's a giant temple that has been under construction since 1882 (that's not a typing error!) and it's not expected to be completed for between 30 to 80 years ( time for completion varies depending on different sources of information)
Much controversy surrounds the building of the Sagrada Familia. Today new construction materials are being used which, some feel, Gaudi himself would not have used.
When you visit the building you will see the contrast in the stone colour between the front and back of the building. Also the actual style of construction appears somewhat different between the new and old parts of the building.
Gaudi played an active role in directing the construction of the Sagrada Familia until his death in 1926. He would often request that work be modified and adjusted until it was exactly what he had in mind. However today, because of the nature of the existing designs, his work is partly open to interpretation.
Interpretation of the ordinal designs by present day architects is particularly challenging because the actual construction stones are irregularly shaped.
The building is still under construction so be prepared to see a lot of work continuing when you visit. However this in itself is interesting, especially if you visit the museum inside the building. There you will see the stone masons at work carving stones to be used in the building.
Regardless of all the controversy surrounding the Sagrada Familia it is a truly magnificent building and an absolute must-see when you visit Barcelona.
The above description came out of the internet but thought it was a better description than I could do….. We spent better than two hours viewing this work in progress and the museums attached to it. We bought all day tickets for the metro and used them again to go to the Parc Guell …. This is a park full of more Gaudi works. BTW this is where our word “Gaudy” comes from to describe things that are full of color and outlandishly out of sinc with the rest of the world. Getting to this park was a trip itself. After we left the Metro we walked a long way uphill… some so steep that they had escalators taking people uphill….coming down was another story. Anyway we were rewarded by a beautiful overlook with many people milling around… musician playing for money and people selling their wares from ground cloths spread all over. Shelby left us at the park and we found our way back to the Train Station in downtown Barcelona where we were able to purchase bus tickets for a trip Monday to Toulouse, France. We have found that we enjoy using the bus between cities and it’s a more economical way to travel. Another trip on the Metro brought us back to our hostel. A wonderful day spent with Martha finding our way around in Barcelona. Guess were almost ready to leave Spain as we are beginning to understand the Spanish on the signs .