Barcelona, Spain

 21 April 2024 - Barcelona, Spain

Today, we took a tour to see some highlights of Barcelona.  Stopped on the top of a hillside which gave great views of the city, On the way there, the guide explained that the area we were traveling through was part of the Olympic Games back in 1992. The investment in the city transformed both the landscape and the culture.  In particular, the factories along the shoreline were replaced with water sport venues.  The city families started visiting the cleaned up shoreline for recreation and now the city people don’t travel out of the city to find their summer beach fun. This brings more revenue to the city which funds improvements in transportation and activities.

The highlight of the tour was a visit to Sagrada Familia.  Designed by Gaudi and still in construction, this cathedral was unlike any other I have visited.  Could have stayed for several more hours.  

We finished the tour with a visit to the old section of Barcelona.  Our guide was excellent! He taught Art History and had been doing tours in Barcelona for over 30 years. I felt like, in the best possible way, that I had been to a master class in architecture and art history.

Russ is the best photographer! He took this just as we were leaving the cathedral. Gaudi put stained glass of greens, yellows and orange on the west side and violets, blues and greens on the east side.  It emphasizes the morning and evening colors of the day.

The Sangrada Familia towers over all the other buildings. And it is still in construction. It is the largest unfinished Catholic Church in the world.

Construction started in 1882.  It is hard to imagine the reaction of the people at the time - it is so non traditional even today.

We were treated to a folk dancing performance as we approached the cathedral.  When we left, the crowd was dancing a dance which the guide told us was taught to all schoolchildren.

Everything about the design of the church draws your eyes up and up.  I found that, even when I tried to focus on the details close to the ground, my eyes automatically moved up.

Gaudi used the outside of the church to tell the story of Christ.  All the “droopy” features are leaves and twigs.  Gaudi studied nature extensively and incorporated nature into every element of the church.

The vertical feature is the light rays from the Star of Bethlehem and divides the tableau in half. The ray shines down on the birth scene.

Gaudi wanted the church to be the “church for everyone.” But the poor couldn’t contribute money to the building of the church.  So he used them as models for his sculptures.

He included wildlife, as well as plants into his scenes.

Way up high, I think at least 100 feet, is a cedar tree.  Gaudi featured a lot of symbolism in his work

Like medieval architects, Gaudi used the decorations of the church to tell the story of the Bible (because the majority of people couldn’t read and books weren’t generally available).  The difference I see is that Gaudi used the outside of the church to tell the stories, rather than the inside, using stained glass and sculptures.

Gaudi solved the problem of supporting the weight of the walls and ceilings using observations he made in nature from how trees support themselves using slightly bended trunks with roots and branches.  The impression I had when entering the interior was that of a forest of white trees.

Gaudi died in 1926 (run over by a tram,) In 1936 anarchists broke into the workshop and destroyed his original plans and drawings.  Future architects have had to interpret what he intended. These windows were designed by him, but later architects evolved the concept into the windows we see today.

Very little straight lines in the interior (just like in nature.)  This is one of the staircases.

The church can hold 9,000 people.  The choir loft you see here holds 1,000 choir members!

The current designers incorporated this sculpture of a child holding a bomb.  They wanted the church to reflect all of what humankind is capable of, even evil violence from the smallest child.  Note that the bomb is given to the child by the Devil.

The facade for the exit of the cathedral depicts the story of the Passion and death of Christ.  The sculptures are starkly different from the entrance - they are gaunt and elongated.  Evokes a sense of sadness and grief.

We left Sagrada Familia for the old section of Barcelona, called the Gothic Quarter.  Narrow, winding streets.

A portion of the Roman wall that encircled the ancient city.

Construction for new structures often uncovers old Roman buildings.  Then all sorts of politics ensues trying to preserve the ruins, while allowing for progress.

This square was bombed in 1938 by the fascist Italian Air Force.  The church was being used as an air shelter for schoolchildren. The church was leveled, killing twenty children. Altogether 42 people were killed in the square and over a hundred were wounded. The only thing left standing is this church facade where you can see the shrapnel marks.

The Cathedral of Barcelona, quite a contrast to the Sagrada Familia.  This is the seat of the Archbishop. Built from the 13th to 15th centuries. We weren’t able to tour because a church mass was occurring.

The facade was remodeled in the late 19th century to the neo-Gothic we see today.

The adjacent cloister was completed in 1448.  Tradespeople were buried here and there were a number of  side chapels.

Tradespeople would incorporate symbols of their guild in their gravestones.  This person belonged to the butchers guild.

A modern sculpture of a lover’s kiss in the Gothic Quarter, made of small pictures emailed to the artist

One of two bull fighting arenas we passed.  Bullfighting has been outlawed in Barcelona since 2010 and the last bullfight was in September 2011.