Who is Antoni Gaudi?
Antoni Gaudi is one of the most famous figures in both Catalan culture and world architecture. He spent over 40 years designing the Temple of the Sagrada Familia.
Antoni began the design for the temple in 1883 after receiving his first official commission a few years before in 1878. This grew his professional reputation and he started taking on larger projects commissioned by the bourgeoisie. He worked on The Casa Calvet, Casa Batllo and the Casa Mila before starting construction on the Sagrada Familia in 1882.
In 1914 he left all other work to concentrate solely on the Sagrada Familia. For 43 years Antoni worked on the temple, until 1926 when he unfortunately died before he could finish his masterpiece. His funeral was a spectacular event since he was recognized as the greatest architect Barcelona had ever seen. He was buried in the chapel of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in the crypt of the Sagrada Familia.
100 Years Later…
90 years after Antoni Gaudi died in a tragic accident and 100 years since the foundation was laid The Sagrada Familia has entered the final state of construction. Six new towers will be added to the Roman Catholic basilica. The tallest on
e, named “The Tower of Jesus Christ” will be over 172 metres. Making the Sagrada Familia the tallest religious building in all of Europe. It’s estimated that the construction will continue until at least 2026 to coincide with the centenary of Gaudi’s death. The architect said that it could take four to six more years to finish but that it should be completed by 2030 – 2032.
Once completed, the basilica will have eighteen different towers each dedicated to a religious figure. Some of those include:
- The Virgin Mary
- Four evangelists
- Matthew
- Mark
- Luke
- John
Each sizable tower has a varying height depending on which hierarchy they were designed to reflect. The central tower will be 566 feet tall, making it the tallest cathedral in all of Europe. At 531.5 feet Ulm Tower slide into second for the tallest tower in Europe. St. Peter’s Basilica, in Rome remains with the tallest interior.
The site of the centuries old cathedral was listed as a world heritage destination in 2005 and welcomes more than 3.5 million international tourists annually. The Sagrada Familia is now among the top ten most visited monuments in the world.
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