The Church of the Sagrada Familia, the building of which was instigated by bookshop owner Josep María Bocabella, began to be erected on land in the Barcelona Ensanche district, in 1833. However, it wasn’t until a year later that the Association of Worshippers of St. Joseph, which had been set up to raise funds for the building, commissioned Gaudi to continue the work. After a number of disagreements between Bocabella and the first architect hired to undertake the project, Francisco de Paula del Villar, the job was given to a young, and as yet unknown, Gaudí. He had just turned 31.

Ah yes! I remember! How very daring we are when we are young… As soon as I received the commission, I completely altered the Neo-gothic project that the famous architect Paula del Villar had designed, in order to give the church a far more personal style. I would have preferred its orientation to have been different, too, and for the main entrance to have faced the city of Barcelona, but as the crypt had already been built, work continued as planned and the church today faces south.

The Sagrada Familia is built on a cruciform plan. It has five naves which are reduced to three at the transept. It is 90 metres long and 60 metres wide. When the building work is completed, which is scheduled for the year 2026 or 2028, we will be able to see its 18 spires and its three great facades, named the Nativity, the Passion and the Glory. The last one is still in its initial stage. The church was consecrated as a Minor Basilica in 2010 by Pope Benedict XVI, and it can hold 8000 people.



(c) (R) 2013, MUSMon com S.L.
Text (a) Diego Laforga Marcos (2013)

Picture: Bocabella´s portrait
Source: Wikipedia
Author: Unknown
Licence: This image (or other media file) is in the public domain because its copyright has expired. This applies to Australia, the European Union and those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 70 years.

Picture: The temple´s floor plan
Source: Wikipedia
Author: Puig i Boada, Isidre: El temple de la Sagrada Família, Ed. Nou Art Thor, Barcelona, 1986. ISBN 84-7327-135-1
Licence: This image (or other media file) is in the public domain because its copyright has expired. This applies to Australia, the European Union and those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 70 years.