This little note articulates Sagrada Familia Tour and throws some light on Gaudi House Museum!
Hope you enjoy reading it as much I liked writing about it.
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Sagrada Familia - The dream of Antoni Gaudi
Visit to Sagrada Familia brings in front true beauty of architecture. It is surely not a common church to visit. The plan for this world heritage site was laid down by Antoni Gaudi - The architect who lived on this earth from 1852 till 1926 made a remarkable impact in the history of human architecture in this world. He was a devout Christian person as visible from his great work - Sagrada Familia. Gaudi's mission was only one - to build this unique church. He was aware that his entire plan will not get materialized in his lifetime. Truly so, the work is still going on and it is supposed to get completed by 2026.
If you just look at the church not knowing what it tries to tell you, it would fail to make an impact on you. So, Sagrada Familia tour with an audio guide is needed in order to understand the depth with which each and every aspect of this church is built.
The inside of the church is depicted as a Jungle full of trees where Jesus resides. There was a strong impact of nature on Gaudi. He has the view that God resides in nature...He says
'Nothing is art if it does not come from nature'
The front door is recently designed by a Japanese artist having green leaves with various insects. There are strong tree-like pillars inside, which supports the roof. The pillars are made of different materials like basalt, granite, sandstone to build proper support structure. There is a proper proportion in height, and distance between the pillars. Four evangelists - winged lion, eagle, winged ox and winged man live proudly on four pillars.
The use of those pillars is supposed to be an architectural wonder as they defy most of the principles of architecture. When Gaudi laid down the plan of Sagrada Familia, he was being mocked and opposed to his plans. He had to struggle hard to materialize his plans. But he had full faith in the power of God. He said,
'In Sagrada Familia, everything is providential'
When you look at the roof it looks like full of tree leaves. There are small openings between the leaves as if we are looking at the sky through leaves of the tree. There is ample natural light inside the church. The height of the church is less than the highest mountain peak in Barcelona as Gaudi said,
'Work of man cannot be greater than work of God (Nature)
The east-facing glass windows are green and blue color tinted while west-facing has amber and yellow-colored. East is the side of the calm morning and west being the side of the warm evening. On circular glasses, the names of Christian saints have been carved.
An idol of Jesus has surrounding lights depicting descending spirits from heaven. The upper portion part has a depiction of bread and grapes - the food which is an essential element of life.
Various facades of Sagrada Familia stand proud to represent the scenes from the life of God Jesus. Nativity facade is the entrance of the cathedral. It represents the birth of Christ and various events in his life. Baby Jesus in the hands of Mother Mary and Joseph depicts the birth of God. Then there is an event that Mother Mary traveled to Egypt with little Jesus. The hard-working nature of Jesus comes in front in one of the scenes where he is engrossed in carpentry. The towers on the front facade have some gaps like Musical instruments representing the chorus. It comes from Gaudi's belief that life without music is incomplete.
On the opposite side of the Nativity Facade is the passion facade depicting the passion of Jesus. Passion is the short final period of the life of Jesus before the crucifixion. Every little detail in the passion period is carved on this facade. The facade has four pillars that have bone-like appearance depicting the suffering of mankind. There is a cryptogram where the sum of numbers in the row or columns comes 31 which is the age of Jesus when he was crucified. There is a museum in the underground area where you can capture the history of the construction of Sagrada Familia and further plans.
Sagrada Familia is the place of worship that is open to all people with different faiths and religions. As written on the website,
"The Sagrada Familia is an international center for spirituality which, in an exceptional setting, invites people of all backgrounds and faiths to share in a sense of life based on love, harmony, good, generosity and peace."
This was a short descriptive Sagrada Familia Tour...!
With this let's take a look at Antonio Gaudi's life and Gaudi Museum House...
This was a short descriptive Sagrada Familia Tour...!
With this let's take a look at Antonio Gaudi's life and Gaudi Museum House...
Antoni Gaudi worked on Sagrada Familia for 43 years. Last 12-13 years, he entirely devoted himself to this work. If you visit the house of Antoni Gaudi, (Gaudi museum at Guell Park) you come to know the simplicity of this man. There is a small audiovisual of 7 minutes showing the small details in the personality of Gaudi. It is written by a fellow sister who knew Gaudi personally.
Gaudi was strongly connected with Nature. All his work has some connection with Nature.
"The great book, always open and which we should make an effort to read, is that of Nature."
Gaudi house museum architecture is also in tune with nature...
Gaudi house museum architecture is also in tune with nature...
Gaudi believed in God and the power of prayers. There is an idol of Christ in his bedroom before which he used to pray every morning.
His bed was wide enough to sleep for a single person. He said the bed is good enough for him to sleep comfortably. He also was vegetarian. He had friendly relations with all the craftsmen, workers and guided them personally in the construction work. Furniture, chairs designed by him are considered unique. There is a visual of a chair designed by him. This particular chair supports the spine of the person sitting on the chair from various angles.
There is small statue of Mother Mary just outside the door. Before leaving for work he used to bow in front of the mother. He used to be ready for work at 7:30 am in the morning every day. Discipline was in his blood! In his earlier life he used to spend money on himself. Later on, when his father, cousin and all his friends died, he became lonely. He took on the simplistic frugal lifestyle, not spending a penny on himself. He used to donate all the money he received.
In his last years, when sisters asked him to buy new clothes, he told them he doesn't care even if he looks like a beggar. Ironically, people thought he was beggar when he died. At the age of 73, when he was taking a daily walk, he was hit by a tram. People thought he was an ordinary beggar and did not get immediate medical attention. He couldn't recover from the accident. He was buried in the premises of Sagrada Familia- his dream project. Thousands of people attended his funeral. Gaudi's work speaks for him. Architects from all over the world study his designs. Seven of his works were declared world heritage sites by UNESCO.
Truly, Gaudi was God's architect! And Sagrada Familia is the home of God...
Note: Though I am not Christian by religion, I have a strong faith in God. When there is an association between Nature and God, the connection is automatically established. So, it gave me the inspiration to write about Sagrada Familia. After all, I believe
सबका मालिक एक है!
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If you like this post, you may also like to check other places to visit in Europe:
Visiting Prague:
Sightseeing Barcelona:
Portugal Holidays:
Reading culture in Germany
Oostende - Disney Sand Art
Venice and Florence - The Serene beauty!
