One Erection The Tax Payer Won't Get Fleeced On! (Sagrada Familia)

Member Name: Andy.mack

Product:	Sagrada Familia
Date:	18/01/04 (127 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Well worth a visit, one of the main attractions in Barca

Disadvantages: It's still roughly 40 years till its finished

Last year as I'm sure a lot of you know I celebrated my 21st birthday with a trip to Barcelona. The trip for me personally wasn't just about the drinking, although that was a large part of it. However I'd spent a lot of time during my 2 years in college studying various different architects and design styles. However there was one amongst them that really stood out and he is probably one of Barcelona's most famous residents. I am of course talking about Antoni Gaudí who captured my interest more than I thought any architect could.

Having designed or had his influence used on a vast majority of the buildings in Barcelona, Guadi was a source of much interest. His most famous work however was the cathedral El Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família (Expiatory Temple of the Sacred Family). The construction of the giant cathedral is quite possibly one of the longest running construction projects still being undertaken. Work began on the site back in 1883 when Gaudi dedicated his life to seeing his vision take shape.

The project, still running with the main body of the cathedral yet to be finished still has an estimated 40 odd years to go. However unlike Britain, the project is all funded privately rather than through public taxation. I'm sure you all remember that Millennium Dome thingy that a hell of a lot of money was wasted on. Instead, the building site has been transformed into a tourist attraction and as such serves as a means of funding for the remainder of the project.

The main problem is that when work first started Guadi used his instinct rather than structuring a proper plan. He never really drew all his ideas for the cathedral onto one drawing and as such it has become a real fusion of ideas from various different drawings. He died aged 74 after being hit by a car whilst high on opium, leaving this massive project behind. With a 20 year gap in construction while the Spanish Civil war raged it was started again in 1952 and construction has continued since then.

The cathedral is some 60ft high within the main hall with the spires reaching an amazing 95ft up above the main structure. Almost as wide as it is long the two sets of spires at each end act as a focal points. The design looks absolutely fantastic and at the top of each of the spires they have used mosaic patterns to decorate it but also showered small fragments of glass into the decoration. Around the doors are sculptures of animals such as snakes and people to represent events in the bible.

On the whole the architectural design takes on a very gothic feel to it, however as time has passed the building style has changed slightly. You can see clearly where each section has been built during a different period as the shades of stone work, weathering and general appearance of the construction really gives it away.

The chance to wander round the amazing building is one that can't be passed up and although I do have more than a passing interest in architecture it really is an amazing site. Access to the Cathedral can be achieved a number of ways. You can use the tube from many parts of the city, taxi's can be found on every corner near by and all the tourist buses also stop in this area of the city, although that's hardly surprising considering the number of people who want to visit.

Before you actually enter the Cathedral I'd suggest taking a good walk around so you can step back and look up at the high steeples and really get a good feel for the ambience and the style. If you need to have a rest before you enter this great edifice then outside there is a Pizza Hut, McDonalds and Pans along with a number of other café's and bars. Although we didn't actually visit any of the places around the outside they were all packed full, suggesting that they were good quality sites or at least not so bad they turn tourists away.

The cost to get into this fantastic attraction I found to be very reasonable. The basic cost without any discount was Euro8 each (roughly £5) for general admission and Euro11 (£8 roughly) for a guided tour. Basically, what this entails is being given a set of headphones to guide you round. We paid Euro6 using our money off voucher from the Bus Turistic and guided ourselves round using the notated boards spread through out the inner sections of the Cathedral. Of course there is a constant flow of people accessing the site and despite a constant queue at each entrance of 8 or 9 people it filters through quickly not causing any real delay and once inside its still easy enough to move around without feeling too cramped.

One thing I noticed as I wandered round was that all the small wings and the two main ends are finished and in all honesty look fantastic. But it was the rain pouring into the centre of the Cathedral that makes you realise just how much work they have left ahead of them. Of course as with any tourist attraction though after leaving the central area you walk into the entrance where you will find a gift shop. But more interestingly opposite the gift shop is an elevator, which takes you to the top of one of the spires and for just Euro2 it had to be done.

This really is worth it because even though it we went on a really horrible day, with the rain and being very overcast with clouds, the view over the city was fantastic. Despite the poor weather you could still see for miles in each direction and it really was one of the most amazing things I've ever seen. We even took the opportunity to scare 2 English guys by telling them the metal plate in the middle of the spire wasn't bolted down and it was a sheer drop. Needless to say they didn't step on it again.

There are two ways back to the ground either by the lift (which we took as we needed to get off elsewhere before it closed) or by walking down, which I plan to do next time I go. By walking you can explore every little part of the tower and at certain points switch between towers and even explore other areas as you get back towards the ground, this makes the Euro2 euros for the lift seem worth it, but then again the feeling of looking over the city did that in itself.

Overall the tour is excellent value for money and the chance to be inside the Cathedral and look out over the city is superb as I?m sure anyone who has been will agree. Cost wise, it is fairly reasonable, possibly a bit steep for what you get but when you consider it is a self funding operation it makes it all worth while as you can see what your money pays for. Most of the Cathedral is wheelchair accessible apart from the spires as once you get to the top of the lifts everywhere you go is either up or down stairs. But I'd certainly recommend a visit as it's one of those things that Barcelona is famous for.

Summary: One of the most famous landmarks in Spain