Finally Photos: The Sagrada Famil

The Sagrada Familia is a cathedral designed by Francesc del Villar in the 1880s to honor the "Sacred Family"--this is a primarily Catholic country, remember. Anyhow, there were various disagreements over the design and Villar was fired and replaced by his then assistant, Antoni Gaudi. Gaudi was an artistic and architectural genius, as well as an incredibly religious man. He devoted the remainder of his life to the completion of the design and the initial construction phases of the complex. He designed both the Passion and Nativity Facades. Unfortunately for the project, Gaudi died in 1926 when he was run over by a streetcar. Over 121 years after the start of its construction and probably much to the disappointment of Gaudi himself, the building is still not finished. Current projections for completion range from the mid-2020s through the 2040s. Finally, a construction project that will take longer than the Big Dig in Boston! The biggest differences though are that this project doesn't have 500,000 people driving through it everyday on their way to work and it isn't costing taxpayers a cent--only private donations and tourism revenue are being used to fund it. Amazing!

Check out the web site for a detailed explanation of what all the things in these photos are and their symbolism: http://www.sagradafamilia.org

One of the few installed stained glass windows.

		This, and the following photo, are of the columns and roof of the left side of the central nave.
		What looks like one of the first lights to be installed inside the roof on the left side of the central nave.

This is a view of the Glory Facade.

I went up into one of the spires at the front of the structure. Looking out of the different windows I saw many beautiful sights. Thes are the two bell towers.

Here's one of the many beautiful views of Barcelona you get when going to the top of this spire.

I lost track of which of the spires these two were, doesn't matter, they're pretty impressive whatever they are.

These are the steps coming down from the top of the spires. Notice the cool little gutters for carrying the water down the staircase. I don't think I'd like to be walking these steps during a heavy rain.

This is a close-up of the figures in the Passion Facade. Pretty intense, huh?