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Sagrada Família

The Sagrada Família basilica was begun in 1882 with a neo-Gothic design by Francisco del Villar, who resigned in 1883. That year Antoni Gaudí took over, changed the design completely and devoted the last fifteen years of his life, until his death in 1926, to the work. Gaudí used ruled surfaces such as hyperboloids, paraboloids and helicoids, and raised columns that branch like trees to hold up the vaults without external buttresses. It has three façades: the Nativity façade, finished in Gaudí's lifetime; the Passion façade, built between 1954 and 1976 with sculptures by Josep Maria Subirachs; and the Glory façade, planned as the main entrance. The design includes 18 towers; the central one, dedicated to Jesus, reaches 172.5 metres. Benedict XVI consecrated the church on 7 November 2010 and declared it a minor basilica. It stands at Carrer de Mallorca 401, in the Eixample, and still works as a church with scheduled Masses.

Things to do at Sagrada Família: 4 missions

• Climb one of the towersWith the ticket that includes the towers, go up one of them and look down on the basilica and the Eixample.
• Compare the Passion façadeCross to the opposite side and look at the Passion façade, built between 1954 and 1976 with sculpture by Josep Maria Subirachs, and compare its style with that of the Nativity façade.
• See how the columns branchInside the nave, look up at the columns that branch like trees and hold up the vaults without external buttresses.
• Walk along the Nativity façadeStop in front of the Nativity façade, the only one finished while Gaudí was alive, and look at its four towers, of which only one was topped off before his death.

Near Sagrada Família

Source: Web oficial - Sagrada Família