The church's size is amazing, although we have been to other churches that are indeed larger. What stands out about La Segrada Familia is the grandeur of it, the design, the architecture, the beauty, the story, etc. - one runs out if superlatives to describe it. The long lines of people queued up to experience it are a testament to both its draw, and to their stupidity for not buying tickets online ahead of time! Online - now there's a thought - think of all of the things that have been invented during the time that La Segrada Familia has been under construction. But, I digress.
Since its beginning, it has always been an expiatory church - which means it has been built solely on donations, which include the admission fees to both get into the church and to ride the elevator to the top of one of the spires that looks out over Barcelona. There are but a few really tall buildings in Barcelona, as about six stories seems to be the normal height. Thus La Segrada Familia stands very tall and very prominent in Barcelona.
There are two very obvious sides to the church - the Nativity facade and the Passion facade. The Nativity facade was actually done during Gaudi's lifetime. The stonework was very intricately sculpted by hand and shows very realistic figures. The Passion facade, on the other hand, is much newer, the stonework being done by people using modern machines and techniques, and the figures are very angular and chiseled. Another digression - one has to wonder how many iterations of "modern machines and techniques" there have been 1882 and the present.
The inside of the church must be described as modern, as contemporary. While the demensions of the building and its shape are similar to churches throughout the ages, the way that the pieces have been put together just evokes a sense of modernity. Again, considering that the design is over 130 years old, and the work has been done continuously during that time, the freshness and appeal of the building is amazing. Could someone today design a building for 130 years from now, and would that building then be described as modern, as contemporary?
Upon entering the church one is struck by the smooth, flowing lines of the marble columns. Not being an architect, I don't quite know how to use architectural terms to describe the construction, but words like beautiful, flowing, precise, smooth, sweeping, etc., don't do it justice. Different color marble was chosen for different purposes and even though this much stone might be described as cold - it actually feels just the opposite. It is warm and embracing. We walked around, like the other pilgrims, and then sat in various marble benches and wooden chairs. My camera would not stop clicking off picture after picture, and yet I know that if a picture is indeed worth a thousand words then the hundreds of pictures that I took still don't adequately describe what we got to experience just by being there.
After about two hours in the church it was our appointed time to ride in a 6-person elevator to the top of one of the spires. We had done this 44 years ago, so it was great to do it again. The ride is quick and smooth. After we leave the elevator there are still many steps to climb. This reminded me of climbing the Statue of Liberty - you know that you are inside of something grand, but until you get to places where you can look out, you don't quite appreciate where you are. Since the church is still under construction, you get to see them cutting stones and lifting them with huge derricks and cranes. You are literarly in the middle of a construction site!
As we walked up the spire I felt like the building should be wavering in the wind. But then I realized that the enormity of the quarried stone and cement made it all "rock solid!" The walk down in ever tightening spiral staircases reminded me of Joani, 44 years ago, clomping down the steps of the Duomo in Florence in her wooden Dr. Scholl's sandals. However this time the "modern" shoe was rubber-soled and quiet!
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