Describing the Sacred Family in Barcelona by Natalia Lillo Fernández 1º BACH T

The Expiatory Temple of the Sacred Family, known simply as the Sacred Family, is a great catholic temple of Barcelona (Spain), designed by the Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí. Initiated in 1882, still it is in construction (November, 2008). It is Gaudí masterpiece, and the maximum exponent of the modernist Catalan architecture.

The construction began in Neogothic style, but, on having assumed the project Gaudí in 1883, was completely restated. As his to proceed habitually, from general sketches of the building the construction improvised as it was advancing. It took charge with only 31 years, dedicating the rest of his life, the last ones fifteen in sole right.

One of his more innovative ideas was the design of the high conical circular towers that stand out aimed on the portals, becoming closer with the height. It projected them with a parabolic twist giving an ascending trend to the whole front favored by multitude of windows that perforate the tower following forms spirals.

The temple, when it is finished, will have 18 towers: four in each of three income - portals and, like domes, one will arrange a system of six towers, with the tower central dome, dedicated to Jesus, of 170 meters of height, other four about this one, dedicated to the Evangelists, and the second dome dedicated to the Virgin. The interior will be formed by innovative tree-shaped sloping columns and vaults based in hiperboloides and paraboloides looking for the ideal form of the chain.

In 1926 Gaudí died; only a tower had been constructed. Of the project of the building only planes and a model were remaining in plaster that turned out to be very damaged during the Spanish Civil war. Since then have continued the works: nowadays there are finished the portals of the Birth and of the Passion, and that of the Glory has begun, and the interior vaults are in execution. The work that Gaudí realized, that is to say, the front of the Birth and the crypt, has been included by the UNESCO in the year 2005 in the Site of the world Patrimony " Antoni Gaudí's Works ".

SYMBOLISM:

Themes throughout the decoration include words from the liturgy. The towers are decorated with words such as "Hosanna", "Excelsis", and "Sanctus"; the great doors of the Passion façade reproduce words from the Bible in various languages including Catalan; and the Glory façade is to be decorated with the words from the Apostles Creed. Areas of the sanctuary will be designated to represent various concepts, such as saints, virtues and sins, and secular concepts such as regions, presumably with decoration to match.

DESCRIPTION:

Expiatori the Temple of the Sagrada Familia church is one of five cruise ships with three, which form a Latin cross as we can see in the foreground.

We can also observe the apse which is located on the first tower on the left and the chapels that are at the ends of the temple.

I have chosen the sacred family because it is one of the monuments that more I have liked and because it has been called me the attention.