The Sagrada Familia

By Mark

Never has a building or space moved me in such a way.

When I first walked through the doors into the immense cathedral, I did not hear angels, I didn’t see God personified and I didn’t feel light pouring down from heaven.

It was actually much more powerful than that.

Guadi created a space that truly honors the power of nature and celebrates a higher power in charge. It is an amazing combination of organic flowing shapes, modern clean design and such an immense scale that you immediately understand there is much going on here beyond human ability. The giant pillars rise like trees in a forest to hold up not only the ornate ceiling 100 feet above, but also the giant spires above. The engineering is more than pure genius. As a first reaction my eyes bugged out and my jaw literally dropped open. I thought to myself, “He did it! He made it a forest. He built Nature. He created the most amazing light everywhere,” all referring to Gaudi, an architect and a human being. Then, the power starts to sink in realizing the love and dedication that Gaudi put into such a project to tribute God and Jesus Christ. I had never seen or felt anything in a church from any religion that resonated with me as representing a truly higher power … until now. Tears filled my eyes. I had to choke back spasms of sobs that rose from my core, thru my belly, across my chest all the way to my lips. This was all within a few minutes of entering the building. Slightly embarrassed but aware that the quickly building crowd had much more to notice than me, I gently shuffled as if in a trance into the middle of the cathedral, head tilted back and tears running over my cheeks and down my neck, soaking my t-shirt.

It was awesome.

And I’ll never forget how Emily looked up at me, not with the embarrassed contempt of a teenager, but with pure compassion, respect and appreciation.

We silently found Leyla amid the quickly growing crowd across the giant cathedral. Tears in her eyes, she was having a similar experience.

We had just enough time to gain composure before slipping into line for the elevator up the Passion tower. The perspective from high up one of the spires gives a much better sense of the extreme detail and complexity of the construction. Tiny pieces of glass and tile make up the mosaics that gleam in the sun. They are visible from this vantage point, but from the ground they accent the spires and make up the vibrant, joyous wheat and grapes representing the Eucharist. The view across Barcelona is also stunning with the wonderful architecture creating its own mosaic across the city to Montjuïc hill, which rises one meter higher than the top of the Sagrada Familia’s highest spire will once constructed. Although the Jesus tower will make this the tallest church in the world, Gaudi believed his creation should not be taller than the work of God on the other side of the city. When you visit this monumental temple, it is pretty clear that the two were working closely together.