★★★★★ 5.0
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Basílica de la Sagrada Família
March 19th, 1882 - Bishop Urquinaona lays the cornerstone for the world's most ambitious church on this L'Eixample plot. Standing before these soaring facades on Carrer de Mallorca, you're seeing architect number two - when Francisco de Paula del Villar resigned after one year, 31-year-old Antoni Gaudí transformed everything. Those spires? Part of an impossible 18-tower design, with the central Jesus tower reaching 172 meters - the tallest church on Earth when completed. What visitors miss: Gaudí worked exclusively here from 1914 until his death, yet saw only 15 percent realized. Step inside his stone forest - columns branch like trees, supporting massive weight through geometry alone. The architect who said "my client is not in a hurry" started a 143-year project, completion expected 2033.
Did You Know?
- The Sagrada Família is the largest unfinished Catholic church in the world—construction began in 1882 and is still ongoing today, making it a unique, living monument that has been under construction for over 140 years.
- Antoni Gaudí, the visionary architect behind the basilica, dedicated the last 12 years of his life solely to this project, and at his death in 1926, less than a quarter of the building was completed; he is buried in the crypt, making the site both his masterpiece and his final resting place.
- The church’s 18 dramatic towers are not just for show—each symbolizes a different biblical figure: 12 for the Apostles, 4 for the Evangelists, 1 for the Virgin Mary, and 1 (the tallest, still under construction) for Jesus; the traitor Judas is intentionally omitted, replaced by St. Barnabas, emphasizing the basilica’s spiritual storytelling through architecture.