Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
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Hanging Model
This bizarre contraption in the
crypt museum is testimony to
Gaudí's ingenuity. Gaudí created
this 3D construction - made of
chains and small weighted sacks
of sand - as a model for the ar-
ches and vaulted ceilings of the
Colonia Güell crypt. No-one, in
the history of architecture, had
ever designed a building like this.
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Sagrada Família Floor Plan
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Nave
The immense central body of the temple,
still in progress, is made up of leaning, tree-like
columns with branches spreading out across the
ceiling. Inspired by towering redwood trees, the
overall effect is that of a stone forest.
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Rosedoor Cloister
In the only cloister to be finished by Gaudí,
the imagery is surprisingly modern. Thought to
be inspired by the anarchist riots that began in
1909
(see pp30-31)
, the devil's temptation of man
is represented by the sculpture of a serpent
wound around a bomb-throwing rebel.
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Crypt
Museum
Gaudí now lies in the
crypt
(left)
and his
tomb is visible from
the museum.
Renovated to include
audio-visual exhibits,
the museum offers in-
formation about the
temple's construction.
The highlight is the
maquette workshop,
producing scale
plaster and stone
models for the
ongoing work.
(
Apse
Adorned with
lizards, serpents and
two gigantic snails,
the apse was the
first section of the
temple to be
completed by Gaudí.
Sight Guide
The entrances to the
Sagrada Família are on
C/Sardenya (along with
the gift shop and one
of the bell tower lifts)
and C/Marina. On the
C/Marina side, there
are stairs (and another
lift) to the other bell
towers, and stairs to
the museum below.
If you don't want to pay
the charge to use the
lifts (€2), be warned -
it's quite a climb.
)
Unfinished Business
The church buzzes with
activity: sculptors dangle
from spires; stone masons
carve huge slabs of stone;
and cranes and scaffolding
litter the site. Observing the
construction in progress
(left)
enables visitors to
grasp the monumental
scale of the project.
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For more sights in the Eixample
See pp102-105
