Sagrada Familia

The Sagrada Familia is Antoni Gaudi's astonishing basilica in Barcelona, a soaring, organic vision of stone begun in 1882 and still unfinished, its facades a riot of sculpture and its towers rising toward the sky. Inside, forest-like columns branch into the vaults and stained glass floods the space with shifting colour. A UNESCO masterpiece, it is one of the most extraordinary buildings on earth.

History

The bookseller José María Bocabella, founder of a devotional society of Saint Joseph, came back from Italy in 1872 meaning to build an expiatory temple paid for wholly by donations, and its apse crypt was begun on 19 March 1882, Saint Joseph's day, to a Gothic revival design by Francisco de Paula del Villar. Villar resigned on 18 March 1883 and Antoni Gaudí took over, beginning work in November 1883 and named director in March 1884; he transformed the design and gave the rest of his life to it, and when he died in 1926 it was between 15 and 25 per cent complete, and he is buried in its crypt. Work stopped in 1936, when parts of the church were wrecked with Gaudí's workshop and models; it resumed after 1940 from reconstructed plans, the nave vaults were finished in 2000, Pope Benedict XVI consecrated it as a basilica on 7 November 2010, and its Nativity facade and crypt are part of the Works of Antoni Gaudí World Heritage Site (Wikipedia, Sagrada Família).

What's there

• The interior forest - the tree-like columns and the colour-flooded stained glass.
• The Nativity and Passion facades - the two contrasting sculpted fronts.
• The towers - the soaring spires, some climbable for a view.
• The ongoing construction - the great building still rising toward completion.

When to go

Year-round; a fully indoor sight, best in the morning or late afternoon when the sun sets the stained glass ablaze. Book a timed ticket well ahead, as it sells out and walk-up is impossible.

Things to know

It is one of the most visited sights in Spain, so you must book a timed ticket ahead; walk-up entry is not possible. It is still a building site, so scaffolding is part of the view. The tower climbs are separate, timed and by lift and stairs.

Nearby

Gaudi's Casa Batllo and La Pedrera are nearby; Park Guell is across the city.

Key facts