La Sagradia Familia: Barcelona icon
La Sagradia Familia is an amazing cathedral close to the center of Barcelona. Its name means holy family.The idea for the construction of this monumental cathedral came in 1866. Barcelona’s bookseller Josep María Bocabella had purchased 12,800 square feet close to the center of the city. This huge task was entrusted to the architect Francesc del Villar. The work began in August 1882. However, the architect Villar soon left the project due to disagreements with his colleague Juan Martorell Montells, an architect who was consultant Bokabella’s patron. Martorell suggested that work should continue with 31-year-old Antonio Gaudi.
Gaudi’s fifteen years of work on the church:
Gaudi undertook the work until the last days of his life. On 7th June 1926, he was run down in the street by tram line number 30. After a three-day fight for life, he died. He was buried on the 12th June 1926. The procession passed through the city and citizens paid homage to the great architect, who was buried in a crypt of his unfinished masterpiece Sagradia Familia.
During his lifetime, Gaudi was able to complete only one of 18 towers. The cathedral is recognizable and visible from many parts of the city, especially when the plane comes from the sea and flies over the Olympic Harbor.
Architectural wonder:
Although it is full of religious symbols and it reflects the birth, life and death of Jesus Christ, the Sagradia Familia is often seen as an architectural wonder. It is easily recognized as Gaudi’s great ornate style, with towers whose height ranges from 98 meters for “12 Apostles” to 170 meters dedicated to Christ. These towers leave no one indifferent.
During the Spanish Civil War, Gaudi’s work shop was destroyed. Many architectural geniuses have found this church a difficult riddle since the great master operated by his own imagination and intuition. He mostly worked with the help of some sketches.Since 1980, the works are managed by the architect Jordi Bonet while Josep Subirachs takes care of facades.
The differences between old and new parts are evident at first glance. New stones are incredibly white while the old parts are covered with gray patina of time that has lasted for more than a century. If there is money (donations) and if new technologies get involved, it is expected that the building of Sagradia Familia would be completed around 2025.
Magic SQUARE:
On the facade known as the Passion of Christ is the “magic square”. This is a combination of numbers that no matter how you watch them; horizontally, vertically or diagonally provide a sum of 33, the number that presents Christ’s age at the time of his martyrdom.