La Sagrada Família: Barcelona’s unfinished masterpiece

In this video, we head to Barcelona, for a pre-Covid look at one of the city’s marvels – the Basílica de la Sagrada Família, a UNESCO World Heritage site, designed by Spanish architect Antoni Gaudí.

The large, unfinished Roman Catholic minor basilica, situated in the Catalan city’s Eixample district, was consecrated by Pope Benedict XVI on November 7, 2010, and, pre-pandemic, was an enduring draw for world tourists.

Having broken ground on March 19, 1882, thereafter the Sagrada Família’s construction relied solely on private donations, and was interrupted by the 1936-39 Spanish Civil War. In July 1936, revolutionaries set fire to the crypt and broke their way into the workshop, partially destroying Gaudí’s original plans, drawings and plaster models, which required 16 years to piece back together the fragments of the master model.

Thereafter, construction resumed to intermittent progress in the 1950s. More recently, technological advancements have enabled faster progress, with construction passing the midpoint in 2010. However, some of the project’s greatest challenges remain, including the construction of 10 more spires, each symbolising an important Biblical figure from the New Testament.

It was anticipated that the construction of La Sagrada Família would be completed by 2026, the centenary of Gaudí’s death, but this has now been delayed due to the outbreak of Covid-19.

View the original video here.

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