Meandering With Murphy

The Amazing Sagrada Familia, A Delicious Lunch?? and An Afternoon Off

We were scheduled to tour the Basilica de la Sagrada Familia, Antoni Gaudi’s masterpiece. Finally after walking by this amazing building everyday we were going to be able to go in. We had gotten tickets before we left along with the audio guide. We were scheduled to go in at 9:15. I slept a little late so did not have time for my usual breakfast, a Kind bar. I also did not make coffee the night before so the first thing on my list after the tour would be a coffee. Tom’s brother, Rick Steves, said we should go to the east side, the Nativity Facade, to view it and take pictures and get a full view of this facade.

Antoni Gaudi designed the church and labored on it for 43 years, from 1883 until his death in 1926. He was 31 when he started and it became his life’s work. It was about 20% complete when he died. He is buried in the crypt below the main altar. When he died, only one tower on the Nativity facade had been completed. Gaudi took over the project in 1883 when the original architect, Paula del Villar, quit.

Between 1936 and 1939, the Spanish Civil war halted all work and the crypt burned along with many of Gaudi’s original plans. In 1950 the building resumed in earnest with the start of the Passion Facade. Work continues today.

The church is not complete and the target date is 2026, the 100th anniversary of Antoni Gaudi’s death.

You enter on the Nativity Facade is only a side entrance to the church. There are three facades, Nativity, Passion and Glory chronicle Christ’s life from birth to death and resurrection. Only the Nativity and Passion are complete. Gaudi was a devote Catholic. The four spires of the Nativity Facade are dedicated to apostles and they repeatedly bear the our “santus” or holy. Their colorful ceramic caps symbolize the miters (formal hats) of bishops. The shorter spires symbolize the Eucharist alternating between chalice with grapes and communion host with wheat.

We had booked a ticket to go up the tower. Fortunately, there is an elevator to the top but you have to walk a steep spiral staircase down.

Views from the tower.

Chalace and hosts.

Once we got down, we were ready to explore the church. The floor plan, typical of the most traditional Catalan and Spanish church, is in the shape of a Latin cross (300 feet long and 200 feet wide). It is planned to accommodate 8,000 worshippers.

Gaudi’s vision included his love of nature. The columns (56 in all) are like trunks of trees with branches, leaves and knot-like capitals. Light filters through the stained glass windows with splashes of reds, browns, blues and greens. The four main columns, are each marked with an Evangelist’s symbol and name in Catalan.

Two of the symbols Luc (bull) and Joan (eagle).

Two stained glass windows. There are not any pictures that can capture this.

Within the church to the side of the alert is what’ called the Tower of Humanity. See the tower and the explanation is below.

When the Glory Facade is completed you will be able to exit through the real door. The facade’s sculpture will represent how the soul passes through death, faces the Last Judgement, avoids the pitfalls of hell, and finds its way to eternal glory with God. Now if you went out this door you would see drab, doomed apartment blocks. In the 1950s’ the mayor of Barcelona, figuring the day of completion would never come, sold the land destined for the church project to a builder. Now, that it will really be done, the city will have to buy it back! Sound like a typical government move??

To our amazement, even Tom had a column.

No pictures can capture the beauty and uniqueness of this amazing church. I would direct you to go to YouTube and google Sagrada Familia. I like two, “Sagrada Familia (Barcelona) Full Tour in 4K (exterior and interior)” and “The Worlds Oldest Construction Project”.

We left through the Passion Facade about 11:30. By now I was very hungry, my stomach was queasy, and I was a little dizzy. I had never had this happen before but I knew I needed something to eat. Luckily the perfect place to have lunch was just across the street!!!

I had only had a Five Guys burger once and here I am in Barcelona Spain having another. I ate my cheese burger and chocolate malt. It tasted surprisingly good. After I ate, we walked to get a coffee and when walking to the park to sit and I began to feel ill. Stomach upset (what could have caused this??).

I had to go back to the apartment and lay down. I was grateful for Tom’s help. My day was done. I laid down and took a nap. Tom decided to go down to the port and look around. He had a pleasant afternoon.

The idea was to go to the super market and get some bread, cheese and meat for dinner. I wasn’t sure how much I wanted to eat. I looked up supermarkets and off Tom went. I did insist, despite his reluctance, to take my traveling shopping bag. It has been to every county Scott and I visited so of course it had to be used in Spain! Anyway, the supermarket I sent Tom to proved to be a wild goose chase. It wasn’t what we expected but he found one and got some provisions. Dinner was meat, cheese and bread on the balcony. Not the day we expected but these things happen when you travel.