Sagrada Familia
The Sagrada Familia is one of the key attractions of Barcelona, which has been built by frequent donations since 1882. The temple is visited by more than 2 million tourists a year. Initially, Francisco del Villar designed the temple, but a year later Antonio Gaudi was invited, who greatly changed the design of the temple.
The first thoughts about the construction of the Sagrada Familia Church were back in 1874, and after accepting a large donation, the initiators of the construction bought the site. The date of the beginning of construction is March 19, 1882, on this day the first stone was laid in the foundation of the building. Architect Francisco del Villar wanted to make a neo-Gothic base in the shape of a cross, which was formed by 5 longitudinal and 3 transverse nerfs, and he also designed an apse of 7 chapels. But the customers didn't like it, and after a short argument, Francisco left and Antonio Gaudi took his place. Gaudi redesigned the design of the apse, leaving only the Latin cross, according to his idea, the building should be crowned with a large number of towers, and the decorations on them should be associated with biblical motifs.
In 1892, the construction of the Nativity facade began. In 1895, the construction of the apse was completed. After the architect's death, his assistant Domenech Sugranes took over the work. who completed the construction of all the bell towers of the Nativity facade. A fire in 1936 burned down many of Gaudi's drawings, but soon some of them were restored. In 1854, the construction of the passion facade began, describing the torments of Christ during the crucifixion. Its construction was completed only in 1986. According to the Spanish authorities, it will be possible to fully build the temple only in 2026. The Sagrada Familia Church cannot be built faster because the temple requires stone blocks that are individually processed and customized separately.
Gaudi knew that he would not be able to build the Sagrada Familia before his death, so he planned the interior of the temple in advance. He avoided straight lines in every possible way and this led to the publication of hyperboloid, paraboloid, ellipsoid constructions. The interior of the temple completely obeys geometric laws. The main supporting component in the structure are the columns that distribute the mass of the towers and arches. All sculptures of the facade of "Christmas" are made in full size. To depict the scene of the beating of babies, Gaudi made plaster casts of stillborn children. When taking casts of animals, he pre-injected them into a state of sleep with chloroform. In addition to the scales of the cathedral itself, the detail of the sculptures in the Sagrada Familia is also impressive. Antonio Gaudi spent a long time studying acoustics, thus creating, in his opinion, an ideal system of bells.
The Sagrada Familia Church surpasses even the unfinished ones. The fate of the temple is similar to the Eiffel Tower. Some of the townspeople did not pay attention, others praised, some scolded, calling it a "stone nightmare." Now it has become the main attraction of Barcelona. Up to 10,000 tourists come to see Sagrada Familia every day. The entrance to the temple itself costs 13 euros, but you can view the temple from the outside for free.
