The Temple of Tibidabo

So Saturday morning came, and we knew exactly what we wanted to do.  First, we were going to re-trace our path on the "blue line" and get off the bus so we could go see The Temple of Tibidabo.  This temple is perched high on a mountaintop overlooking the whole of Barcelona and out to the Mediterranean.  Looking up at it was spectacular, we couldn't imagine what the views would be like once we were up there. 



Here's a picture that we took of a framed aerial picture of the temple that was inside one of the corridors.  This just gives you an idea of the size of this thing.  You can easily see it from down on the city floor,



We were only disappointed because of some dirty haze down below, but my, oh my, could you see for miles.  More on this later.  So, the second thing we wanted to do was transfer bus lines after our Tibidabo trip, and follow the red line to lots of fun stops and out to the beaches.  This itinerary took the whole day.  That whole part of the trip will be the next post.  Here's how it came down:

Getting to Tibidabo was no small feat.  First, we had to find our way back through the slums near our hotel to the subway and ride it to a stop near the bus stop.  After waiting in line (not quite as long as on Friday), we took the bus ride.  Next, we had to wait in line to ride this cute trolley through the city streets as far up as it would go on the mountain. 

Next, we had to stand in line again and ride a funnicular up the mountain (sorry, I forgot to get pictures of this one).  Just a few feet after walking up the steps from the funnicular station, we saw this.  It's not as impressive from this angle because part of the temple is hidden from view, but that statue of Chirst on the top is incredible (so reminiscent the statue in Rio).



That tiny, tiny guy on the top of the steps in the blue shirt is my 6 foot 2+ inch DJ!



Perhaps I should backtrack a little here.  The name of the mountain this church (temple) is on is Tibidabo.  The building itself is Temple de Sagrat Cor.  The mountain is the tallest in the Barcelona area and rises 512 meters (1,680 feet) from sea level right there---almost shoots straight up.  On that same mountain there is the oldest amusement park in Barcelona (you see evidence of this later) and a huge telecommunications tower (why do people have to "junk up" something so beautiful?).



Picture from nextours.wordpress.com   You see very little of this from down in the city, just the temple and two or three other structures.  The rest is hidden by trees.  It's beautiful.


Anyway, we were off to see the inside.  Considering the likes of the churches we had seen in Germany and Austria, this one wasn't so impressive, but very, very interesting.  It was very, very dark---both lighting-wise and in the finishes and paints.  There were a lot of cool murals surrounding the sanctuary, however.

The altar

The stained glass wasn't too shabby:

Murals:



Christ being nailed to the cross



Christ carrying his cross, perhaps here with help from Simon the Cyrene, but I'm not sure.





Or perhaps this is when Simon helps him.  We never saw any commentary on the wall murals.

Gethsemane

The interior of the sanctuary. 



A chandelier in the sanctuary



Well, once we had visited the sanctuary, it was back into a small corner of the church to find the elevator, and up to the terrace where we had spectacular views of the city and the sea, though flawed with a murky haze.

Just to the left and above of center, you can see the outline of La Segrada Familia, looking, oh so, teeny.

From the terrace, we didn't have to look so far up to see the top of some of the steeples and the statues of the apostles or to look so far up to the tippy top to see the statue of Christ.  We also could see a large part of the amusement park that sits on the mountain, next door to the church, as well.



Loved this nearby building---don't know if it was like an observatory or what.



Then we found out that there were some stairs we could take so that we could be right at the apostle's level (literally, not in a spiritual sense!).  These stairs were spiral and had openings to the outside---I couldn't look out and down because it was nauseating and scary!  This is what we could see when we got to the next landing!

THEN....we found some more stairs!  These were on the interior of the utmost tower.  A sprial staircase that wasn't much wider than a ladder.  Have I told you that sometimes heights bug me, especially since I broke my ankle in 2003.  I don't always trust my stability.  But onward we went...and by the time we arrived at the top, we were looking DOWN at the apostles!

 

And...DJ could almost stretch his hand and touch the base of where the statue of Christ was!  We were up there! 



See where we were, right up under Christ's feet!  Remarkable!



What a wonderful experience---not just because of the views, not just because of the history of the place, nor the architecture, but we were reminded, once again, of the reciprocal love between us and Jesus Christ as we looked at this replica of Him with his outstretched arms.  We were reminded of the beauties of the earth which he created under the direction of the Father.  Tibidabo and other mountains in the area were beautiful; the blue of the Mediterranean was spectacular. We were reminded of the love and devotion of those who had gone before to erect this edifice so others could worship, not an easy feat at these heights back in the day.  Tibidabo, another highlight of our trip to Barcelona.