By: Sabrina Breslin
On May 9th, we visited La Sagrada Familia and Park Guell. We started off our day by taking the train to La Sagrada Familia where we met our classmates. We were then greeted by our tour guide and headed for the church. La Sagrada Familia is the largest catholic cathedral in the world and its affiliation is with the Roman Catholic church. The building was designed by Antoni Gaudi in 1882 over two hundred years ago and the building is still unfinished today.
As Anthony Gaudi had died before the rest of the models for the building had been made, architects have used technology to create the plans Gaudi would have made. However, Gaudi left a model with the main shapes of the towers so the tower could be completed. As we approached the building I was in awe…the design of the building is so complex with details in every aspect of the cathedral. Before entering the church we saw a model outside of what the cathedral will look like when it is finished.
As pictured below…the orange is what needs to be completed for the building to be finished and the gray is what already has been created.In the 1970’s the apartments to the left of the cathedral were built, but if the third part of the cathedral continues to be constructed they will be evicted. The outside of the building tells a story from the new testament of the bible. It is…or will be looked at in three parts. As of now only two have been built. The building is broken up into three facades. One being the nativity, next the passion, and lastly the glory. From looking at the building there are twelve bell towers, each for one of the apostles.
The nativity facade of the building (the entrance we went in from) has The holy family…Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. Then the nativity shows Mary and the Donkey: the flight into Egypt. Known as the massacre of the innocent. And lastly there is the Entrance of Faith…here is where jesus is preaching the word of god with others surrounding him. The cathedral is made at an equal distance between the Mediterranean sea and the mountains. I found this super interesting. I also found it interesting that the circles and height designed with the building represents the reach towards heaven. The circles representing a never ending cycle of perfection and the height representing the connection between people and God. I thought this was beautiful. At the front of the building there is also a snake with an apple, representing the story of Adam and Eve. This showing the story that starts the beginning of time. The snake has a cage covering it to resemble one of the most famous stories of Catholicism…”the original sin”. As we entered the church I was astonished by its beauty. Growing up in a Roman catholic family I appreciated everything about the La Sagrada Familia. It truly was the most beautiful sight I have ever seen. Inside there are fifty lights hanging to represent the fifty days after Easter, grapes to represent wine, and wheat to represent the bread…Communion. There are also 52 columns to represent the weeks in a year and the building is 90 meters wide and 172.5 meters tall to respect the work of God. Eventually there will be four towers to represent Luke, John, Matthew, and ,Marc. The outside of the building has meaning with architecture of the last supper, a dog, and the kiss of Judas.The kiss of Judah (who in catholic history is seen as the betrayer) there is a snake below him and there are numbers next to the kissing of Jesus and Judah all of the numbers next to this can be added into 33 representing the age of Jesus when he died. After seeing the outside of the building you can easily tell how much hard work has been put into it. Every detail has meaning and purpose behind it…for example a small detail such as the Alpha Omega placed on the church. Representing the beginning and ending of everything is Jesus. La Sagrada Familia was one of the most beautiful things I have seen in my life, I was overwhelmed by its beauty…this was something I will never forget.