I'm not saying it's your typically beautiful European church (it's referred to as a temple)----far from it. It's atypical in the strongest sense of the word. When I first learned about it, I was sure the English word gaudy came into use from the work of Gaudi, but in reality it was being used hundreds of years before Gaudi was even born! But the word gaudy, meaning ostentatiously ornamented, flambouyant, flashy, showy, and extravagant would describe this place as well as noticeable, prominent, dramatic, commanding, conspicuous, and eye-catching! It is all of the above.
I could write lots and lots about what we saw and learned and about what I am now reading in the books that we bought, but the short version is this: The building of the structure was actually begun in 1882.
The idea was to honor the Holy Family. In that era, Catelonia (the area of Spain around Barcelona) was experiencing an unprecedented cultural renewal, evident in a spectacular rise in literary and artistic production, including architecture. This era was also paralleled by a time of great religious fervour and spirituality.
The original architect resigned after a year on the project, and Antoni Gaudi, 31, was hired to finish it. He was well-known for his originality. He couldn't make all the changes he wanted to the temple because the crypt base was already done, and he had to work around that. Gaudi envisioned the S.F. as a "Bible made of stone, which told the history and mysteries of the Christian faith." A Catholic edifice, Gaudi represented the Church on the exterior of the temple through the Virgin, the apostles, evangelists, and the saints. The cross which is atop the main tower is a symbol of the triumph of Jesus' church and the facades depict three important times in his life---his birth, his death, and his resurrection. The interior "refers to the universal church and the crossing to the Celestial Jerusalem, mystic symbol of peace." The symbolism in this place, both inside and out, is nothing short of incredible.
Gaudi died from injuries sustained when a tram knocked him down in 1926. He was 74. He didn't see the completion of "his temple" nor would he, had he lived to be 100 or even 150 because it is still being worked on today following his models and design.
Because much of the exterior is wrapped with plastic and scaffolding, and because of it's size, and because of the rows of people and buses, AND because of the limitations of our camera (I'm so wanting a new one), I could only catch bits and pieces in our photos. But, hey, after temporarily losing our camera and thinking that we would have no pictures at all, I'll take these:
Like I mentioned, three of the temple facades depict times in the Savior's life. The one below is the Nativity facade. This whole facade focuses on his birth and childhood. Besides depicting the Holy Family, there are sculptures of the annunciation, angels playing musical instruments, the adoration of the shepherds with their lambs, the three kings with their gifts, a chorus of baby angels, heralding angels, Jesus in Simon's arms in the temple, the Holy Family's flight into Egypt, Jesus working as a carpenter, Mary and Joseph looking on with adoration and awe as they watch Jesus teaching in the temple. Truly, the stone tells a lot of the story of Jesus' early days. The most poignant scene to me was what they call "the massacre of the innocents" where a Roman soldier, sword in one hand and a baby in the other is clung to by a pleading mother with the corpses of other babies on the ground. It still brings tears to my eyes. I can't imagine the horror of all those parents and families. (I'm enlarging the few shots we got so you can see the detail a little more clearly.)
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| The top of this shot is when the Virgin Mary is crowned as reward for her self-sacrificing love for God (a Catholic concept---though we honor her as a role model for her sacrifice, devotion, and righteousness, we do not worship her). The smaller sculpture below it is of the annunciation (Mary and the angel Gabriel). |
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| The Annunciation |
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The sculptures surrounding the window and slightly to the bottom, both right and left are the chorus of baby angels and the angel musicians. The Holy Family is on top of the column between the doors, and the column iteslef has a ribbon wrapped around it which has the geneology of Jesus inscribed upon it. The wisemen (2 of the 3 kings) are on the left and the shepherds are on the right. The Holy Family  The Shepherds  The Wisemen |
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Near the top under an arch (kind of looks like a cave) is the sculpture ot Simon blessing Jesus in the temple, lower and just to the right of the door are Mary and Joseph looking at Christ in wonder and amazement as he taught in the temple, and just to the right of them is Jesus working in Joseph's carpenter shop in Nazereth. |
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| The sculpture under the arch is the betrothal of Mary and Joseph. |
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| I took this shot to show the architecture to the left and to show the difference between the new construction versus the old ( light versus dark), but you can also see the sculpture of an angel leading Mary and Jesus on the donkey as they flee to Egypt. I accidentally cut Joseph out as I was focusing on the windows to the left. |
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| Here's a close-up that includes Joseph. I love how the angel is guiding their way---much as angels guide our way in life as we are protected by God's hand. |
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| The Massacre of the Innocents |
The Passion Facade or the one about Christ's betrayal, trials, crucifixion, and death is on the side of the temple opposite the Nativity Facade. Instead of being so ornate, it is done very simply to give a feeling of coldness and sadness. "Gaudi was conscious of the impact that this portal would have on the citizens... To convey this idea of desolation and pain, Gaudi freed the facade from any type of ornamentation." He utilized clean and hard bone-like forms, which you can see in the pictures below. The sculptures done for this facade are characterized by angled forms, whose marked profiles emphasize the drama of the moment. If you follow the sculptures in an S pattern starting at the lower left hand corner, you can see the story unfold: The Last Supper; Peter cutting off the soldier's ear; the kiss of Judas...
...the denial of Peter...
Jesus, wearing a crown of thorns, being presented to the people; Pilate washing his hands; Christ being whipped; a door that represents Gethsemane; Simon the Cyrene helping to carry the cross; soldiers playing dice (casting lots) for Christs' clothes; the crucifixion, the veil of the temple being rent, and the burial. All of these people and scenarios are depicted on the Passion Facade.
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| Under the top sculpture of the crucifixion, Christ is struggling with the cross as Roman soldiers look on Top right is the burial of Christ, and bottome left if when Simon the Cyrene helps to carry the cross as the three weeping Marys look on. |
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| At the top of this picture, you can see the Roman soldiers casting lots (playing dice) for Christ's clothes. The man on the horse below that is a portrayl of Longinus who is "believed to be the soldier that crossed his lance across Jesus' side on the cross. Afterwards, he converted to Christianity and ended up as a Church martyr." |
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| The Crucifixion |
The temple has 18 huge towers outside. The tallest represents Jesus Christ. The second tallest represents Mary. The next four tallest represent the authors of the gospels in the New Testament (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, often referred to as the evangelists. The remaining twelve of them represent the twelve apostles. Each one of those towers has things pertaining to that apostle on them including a sculpture of the apostle. In German, Jacobus is James. I'm assuming that's who this sculpture is.
Instead of using gargoyles on the protruding parts of the drain pipes, Gaudi chose to use animals---animals which are traditionally associated with evil---amphibians and reptiles were included. All were faced head down, fleeing from the purity radiating from Mary's symbols.
Then, you walk inside and the place is ginormous! Though there are pillars and windows and sculptures everywhere around the periphery, the middle is pretty much empty and it's cavernous---but powerful. There is no way our camera could pick it all up, but hopefully some of these shots will give you an idea of the size of this thing!
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| This large vault represents the sun, and has a large orifice thorugh which light enters. It was gorgeous. Gaudi's goal was to illuminate the temple interior the same way as light filters through leaves in a forest. The light is diffused by the shape and arrangement of the vaults. |
There's the stained glass and the windows---wowsers!
The pillars/columns were amazing. There were columns that were 12-sided, 10-sided, 8- sided and 6-sided. There were columns that were light grey, blueish grey, dark grey and reddish in color. The columns were really tall ranging in height from 36.5 feet to 73 feet tall. The columns were really big, their diameters ranging from 3.5 to almost 7 feet across! Lots of them---36 of them supported the weight of this giant structure, but all done in Gaudi's own unique way. He didn't wnat to use buttresses. So he came up with innovations which "consisted of slightly tilting the columns in order to capture the weight of the roof in the most optimum way. Likewise, he turned the shaft in two directions to achieve a better resistance and a spectacular aesthetic effect. Smart man, that Gaudi!
And the ceiling is no different---his way. What I first thought were flowers are stars. And because he was a genius, the star's centers actually are a source of diffused light.
Unique staircases, too. I'm not sure this next one is a staircase, but it was in the corner like the rest of them. I know the second picture is one.
We took a few minutes and visited one of the exhibits at the temple. This one showed how Gaudi took things from nature, the plant and animal life, (which he absolutely loved) and utilized their form and design in his works. I'm not going to add much. I think you can get the idea from the pictures.
Later that afternoon, we had an appointment with the elevator. That's right, we were going to take the elevator part way up and then do a bunch of stairs and go as high as we could go! There are so many people who visit the Sagrada Familia each day, that you have to purchase an elevator ticket with an assigned time when you buy your regular ticket----and, yes, it costs extra. But, oh, could see see a chunk of Barcelona with that gorgeous Mediterranean in the distance and a bit of the temple a little up close and personal!
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| Notice how the grapes are mosaic? Mosaics are very common at the S.F. The grapes and the wheat below represent the Eucharist or sacrament---the wine and the bread. |
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| These are on the tip tops of some of the towers as you can see from these shots. |
The views from up higher were spectacular!
Gaudi has been quoted as saying, "Everyone finds his things in the temple. The peasants see the hens, the scientists the zodiac signs, the theologians the geneology of Jesus..." All I can say is there is so much more there than meets the eye---which is a lot in the first place! So glad that we got to visit Sagrada Familia. I can't wait to go back! It's definitely grown on me!!
P.S. All the things that are quoted in this blog entry are from the book, The Expiatory Temple of La Sabrada Familia.
I LOVED this place :)
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