Our Visit to the Tallest Church in the World

The church already looks almost complete when I went there.

The Sagrada Familia is going to be the next tallest church in the world, surpassing the Ulm Minister in Germany.

"I'm writing this blog with my Mom. She contributed with some of the technical and architectural information about this church. Since it's one of the most glorious architecture in history and build beyond in its time."

I woke up in our apartment with my family. The sun was shining as always in Spain! So the day has come and finally we are going to the Sagrada Familia!
The most iconic monument in Barcelona!  And one of the top list in our family bucket list.

The Sagrada Familia was designed by the famous Spanish Architect Antoni Gaudi. The Church has 3 grand facades. The first completed facade was titled The Nativity facade "The Birth of Christ". Where you can see Gaudi's love of nature are all visible here. Second is The Passion facade which is almost finished when I went there. Third is The Glory facade which is still under construction. 

I was looking at the scaled model and learned in the audio guide that the church is designed to have 18 spires, represents: The 12 Apostles, The 4 Evangelists, The Virgin Mary and the tallest of them all is Jesus Christ which is the central spire. The church was hoped to be finished by 2026 which was going to be Gaudi's 100th death anniversary but other decorative elements believed to be finished by 2032.

The Nativity Facade where you can see Gaudi's love for nature.

Consist of hundreds of plants and animals all sculpted into the stone.

This facades relates to all nature and creation of Life.

The Passion Facade represents the pain and sacrifice of Jesus

The Glory Facade will be the biggest and most monumental among the 3 facades.
It represents the glory of Jesus, and the process of Death, Purgatory, The Final Judgement and The Glory.
This facade is still under construction.

We booked our ticket online in advance in order to avoid long queues. The admission is around 22 Euros with audio guide so you can walk around at your own pace. For more information, just check the following link. 

here.

When we went inside, we were in awe! We were all speechless. A jaw-dropping experience! The walls were all filled with huge stained glass panes so the light coming in will be multi-coloured. The pillars looked like the tallest trees in the forest made out of concrete. He wants to mimick a forest feeling as you walked along the nave. 

I loved how the light changes in colours with those stained glass!
Gaudi treat nature as his teacher.. He observed how light changes within a day .
That is how he mimicked nature. He's purely an architectural genius!

Another view of the church which is the Transept. When you're inside you will feel a different ambience
 that you haven't experience before. Seems like you're in heaven and everything is beautiful and solemn.
You will appreciate the beauty of nature all translated inside a church. And you will really feel the presence of God.

The High Altar

Ceiling is stunning as well. These huge columns represents trees and branches.
All elements are related to nature.

There is also a mini-museum next to the church. "The geometry of nature" I think this is a simple explanatory for kids like me how Gaudi played with geometry to make the construction easy. You can touch the illustrated models there. Then there is a museum underground which shows all the models of the church and sculpted plaster of all the elements used in the church.

Surface generated by straight lines resting
on another 2, not on the same plane.

Interaction how Hyperbolic Paraboloid works.

Gaudi knows he would not be able to finish his magnum opus.
He intentionally created and left a scaled model
as his blueprints for the future architects to carry on his works,
In order to translate his ideas and visions for this church.

Restored original scaled model of the capital of
 the central nave and apse of the column.

Here are some of the Original scaled model by Gaudi
which was destroyed and smashed into pieces
 during the Spanish Civil War.

Sagrada Familia modelling studio where Gaudi's original works are carefully restored
and reproduced to different scales to ensure faithfulness to the original plan and design.

My family in front of the Nativity Facade.

With my little sister.

There you go! I hope you enjoyed the virtual tour of Sagrada Familia

 For sure I will come back here when the church is finally finished in 2026. 

Well, that's the church everyone. And I am going to

give you a surprise,,, still one of amazing works of Gaudi

See you next week in Parc Guell!

 Peace out.😉