Sacred Family Barcelona - Sagrada Família

The Sagrada Família church (its official name being "Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família", the Holy Family Church of the Atonement), is the most famous sight in Barcelona and also one of Europe's most unconventional churches. Dominating its surroundings, it stands in the northern part of the city.

When Antoni Gaudí was put in charge of constructing the church in 1883 plans had already been drawn up and some work done on building the crypt of what was to be a purely Neo-Gothic church.

Gaudí decided to change the plans completely but - as in the case of most of his other works - had no firm ideas in mind, preferring to alter and add to the plans as work progressed. Of course, this meant that there was no question of getting it built quickly, although Gaudí had originally forecast between ten and fifteen years; there were also financial limitations, as the cost was to be met solely from alms and public subscription. As a result the "Church of the Poor", the main work by the most important Catalan architect of modern times, remains just a shell, and nobody knows whether and when it will ever be completed.

The church is planned to have a total length of 110m/354ft and a height of 45m/148ft, with a principal dome of 160m/525ft and towers up to 115m/378ft. So far, however, only the four- towered east doorway (the "Nativity Front"), the outer walls of the apse, the crypt in which Antoni Gaudí was buried in 1926 (not open to the public), parts of the west doorway (the "Passion Doorway") and the nave walls have been built.

From an artistic point of view the Templo de la Sagrada Família is an extremely unconventional mixture of established styles and new ideas. The ground- plan, the way the area is divided up and the firm lines strongly reflect Gothic and mid-19th C. Neo-Gothic, but are combined with the flowing, herbaceous ornamentation so typical of the Art Nouveau style.