On Friday we had a change of plans and did Saturday's itinerary schedule. We went to La Sagrada Familia (the Sacred Family) church. This church is... my words can't do it justice. It was started in 1882, and most of the work was done by Antoni Gaudí, a very famous Catalonian architect (we talk about him a lot during presentations and class sessions). Sagrada Familia isn't finished yet, but hopefully by 2026 it will be complete. The front facade is done in the gothic style, with thousands of carved figures outlining the doorway. The front is also textured to sort of look like coral, with lots of native species of animals as decoration as well. That side faces east and represents Christ's birth. The back is done in a choppy modern style (think Picasso but in sculpture) to look like skeletons--it represents the crucifixion. At the top, there are currently 8 spires (18 total planned) that sort of pierce the skyline and give it a very distinctive look.
But the inside. Once again, words fail me. All I'll say is that the ceiling and columns are designed to look like a rainforest canopy, with tons of windows to let in light. The windows in now will all be replaced with crystal stained glass--a few of these have been made as prototypes already. It's absolutely breathtaking. I don't even think pictures are enough--you should fly to Spain tomorrow and see it for yourself. The best part is that despite the work going on in the church, it's still open for mass and weddings. I'd love to get married there, someday.
The reason why the church isn't complete is because Gaudí died in 1926, but he handpicked architects and left complex plans behind to maintain progress. He made elaborate 3D models, sketches and even a very unique model of little bags of sand tied to a chandelier-like frame. The frame is actually supposed to be hung upside-down, in which case it shows the to-scale elevations of the church. Unfortunately, the Spanish Civil War started in 1935, so many of his amazing plans were lost or destroyed. Enough of Gaudí's ideas were relocated and restored so that the modern architects can still follow his plans, but it's been slow work.
We also went into the city and looked at a couple more of Gaudí's architectural works, like Casa Milà and Casa Batlló, both residences commissioned by wealthy families. In the words of Josep: "Gaudí is 60% Barcelona and Barcelona is 60% Gaudí. Barcelona is the only city in Europe, only one in the world to have works by the famous artist Gaudí. No other city can claim our beautiful buildings and our talented artist. Barcelona is the top city for modern architecture, top top. What a fabulous city."
That afternoon we walked back to Old Barcelona, which dates back 2000-odd years to the Roman conquest era. It was so fascinating to walk down streets that two millenia ago, someone my age had also walked down on their way to work, or market. We stopped to look at Palau de la Música Catalana but we didn't go in--that was a 12E visit. After taking some pictures, we were free to leave and get lunch and head back to the hotel at our own leisure.
Good news, readership! I've made a public photo album on Facebook that I will link to here whenever I have new pictures uploaded--right now I have the first 125 pics off the camera and into the album. I figure I'll update one or two days at a time so it doesn't get too confusing. I was going to use Photobucket, but the site took too long to load and the photos weren't of good quality for some reason. Here's the link for Days 1 and 2: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2036446&id=59301832&l=7bbd42249c
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