Barcelona L’Eixample Dreta

La Sagrada Família. Although Gaudí’s unfinished masterpiece is barely a shell of the intended finished product, La Sagrada Família is without a doubt the world’s most visited construction site. Despite the completion of only eight of the 18 planned towers (and those the shortest), millions of people make the touristic pilgrimage to witness the work-in-progress. Its construction is entirely funded by popular donations; in the past, the Church told donors their patronage guaranteed them a place in heaven. (Luckily, visitors’ entrance fees are considered just such “popular donations.”) While it’s questionable whether the price of admission will get you through the pearly gates, it will get you into an awe-inspiring world of nature, spirituality, and art. Finished or not, La Sagrada Família has become intertwined with the image of Barcelona.

An extremely pious right-wing organization called the Spiritual Association for Devotion to St. Joseph (or the Josephines) commissioned La Sagrada Família. Founded in 1866 in reaction to the liberal ideas spreading throughout Europe, the group was determined to build an Expiatory Temple for Barcelona, where the city could reaffirm its faith to the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph (hence the building’s full name, Templo Expiatori de la Sagrada Família). The first architect they chose quit almost immediately when his ideas for the church strayed from those of the project’s commissar. Gaudí replaced him in 1884, at the age of 31. For the first 15 or 20 years, private contributions kept the building process going, but as the mood and culture of the city changed with the onset of the modern age, construction slowed drastically, and the Civil War brought it to a complete halt. The war years proved tragic for the temple. First, Gaudí died after being hit by a tram just outside the church’s walls in 1926, having overseen the completion of only the Nativity Facade. To make matters worse, in 1936, arsonists on the revolutionary side of the Civil War broke into the crypt, opened Gaudí’s tomb, smashed his plaster models, and burned every single document in the workshop in a display of anti-establishment fury.

Today, the building remains under the auspices of the Josephines; architect Jordi Bonet, whose father worked directly with Gaudí, heads up the project with sculptor Josep Marià Subirachs, who finished the Passion Facade in 1998. Without Gaudí’s exact calculations, the team works from ongoing reconstructions of his original plaster models. The computer models that engineers use to recreate his underlying mathematical logic are so complicated that they have earned an exhibit of their own. As today’s workers slowly give shape to what they think Gaudí had in mind, they continue to achieve unprecedented architectural feats. Until now, it was nearly impossible to set a completion date because of the intricacies of the reconstructed models and the unsteady flow of donations. Most recent estimates predict that La Sagrada Família will be finished by 2030. Winged pigs may soar from the towers that same year.

When completed, the front of the temple—the Glory Facade —will feature four more bell towers; together the 12 towers will represent the 12 apostles. Above the center of the church will rise a massive 170m Tower of Jesus, with a shorter spire just behind it dedicated to Mary. The Jesus tower will in turn be surrounded by four more towers symbolizing the four Evangelists (the authors of the four gospels). As finishing touches, Gaudí envisioned an extravagant spouting fountain in front of the main Glory Facade and a tall purifying flame at the back. Gaudí’s dedication to religious themes in his work on La Sagrada Família has even earned the attention of the Vatican. The continuation of Gaudí’s greatest obsession has been fraught with fierce controversy. Some, like Salvador Dalí, have argued that the church should have been left incomplete as a monument to the architect.

Others believe that La Sagrada Família should be finished, but in a more “authentic” manner than has been the case so far. Critics usually attack most vehemently Josep Maria Subirachs i Sitjar’s Passion Facade. The controversial Passion Facade, which faces the Pl. de la Sagrada Família, portrays Christ’s Passion (Catholic lingo for his crucifixion, death, and resurrection). Its abstract, Cubist design contrasts starkly with the more traditional Nativity Facade, which depicts Christ’s birth and faces the Pl. de Gaudí. Defenders of the facade argue that Modernisme has always been about celebrating the vision of individual Catalan artisans—and that this facade does precisely that.

Today’s visitors can see detailed paintings of the projected church in the Museu Gaudí. Numerous pictures from the early years of the project, sketches by Gaudí, the glass-walled workshop where his models are still being restored, and various sculptures and decorative pieces from the temple are also on display. For a more somber experience, gaze down on Gaudí’s crypt, where roses and tea lights line the grave as a statue of Mary watches over the man that lived and died for this church. (C. Mallorca, 401. ☎932 08 04 14; www.sagradafamilia.org. Sagrada Família. Open daily Apr.-Sept. 9am-8pm, Oct.-Mar. 9am-6pm. Last elevator to the tower 15min. before close. Guided tours in English (€3) May-Oct. at 11am, 1, 3, 5pm; Nov.-Apr. at 11am and 1pm. €11, students €9, under 10 free. Elevator €2.50. Combined ticket with Casa-Museu Gaudí €13, students €11.)

Església De Les Saleses. This church’s anterior bell tower and its intricate brickwork make it distinctive and memorable. Joan Martorell i Montells (1833-1906), one of Gaudí’s mentors, built the church in 1885. Originally a convent, it was severely damaged during the 1909 Setmana Trágica (Tragic Week; see Life & Times). After its 1945 repair, the church became a school, and then a Catholic parish. Its detailed brick, stone, and glass exterior decorations mark it as a direct precursor to the Modernist movement. (Pg. de St. Joan, 57. ☎932 65 39 12. Verdaguer, L4/5. Open 6-8pm.)

Statues On Avenida Diagonal. A good number of Barcelona’s more than 400 monuments adorn l’Eixample, where wide streets and open corners lend them plenty of visibility.

Monument To Narcís Monturiol I Estarriol. This sculpture of a submarine is a tribute to Estarriol (1819-1885), the inventor of, appropriately, the first submarine driven by combustion engine. (C. Girona and Av. Diagonal. Verdaguer, L4/5)

Monument To Anton Clavé. Clavé founded many popular choral societies. (Pg. de St. Joan and Trav. de Gràcia. Joanic, L4.)

Monument To Jacint Verdaguer. Verdaguer (1845-1902) was a well-known Catalan poet. Some of his shorter poems are known as songs, namely, “L’Emigrant.” (Pg. St. Joan and Av. Diagonal. Verdaguer, L4/5)