Amelia's Outrageous Adventures: Sagrada Família

On Wednesday I visited the Sagrada Família, my new favorite basilica. Several of my friends went to Barcelona last summer. I had seen their photos, so I had an idea of what I was going to see, but photos just can't do it justice. It is by far the coolest church I have ever seen! (although I still have a place in my heart for the Duomo di Firenze) I have seen so many churches on my trips to Europe, but I think it is fitting that this will probably be the last church I see on this trip. I was half-sick of churches, but this church is special. It is so different from all the rest of the churches, and yet I’m glad I’ve seen them all because I understand where this one comes from.

The beginnings of the Glory Facade

The first part of the church I saw was the passion façade, which depicts the death of Christ. There will be three facades to the finished church, the passion façade, the nativity façade, and the glory façade. The passion façade and nativity façade are finished (or nearly finished), and I have lots of photos of both of them. The glory façade is just an idea at present, and some half built concrete pillars.
I'm glad I used the audioguide. There's so much symbolism in this church that I would have missed a lot of it without the guide.

The Passion Facade

The passion façade has rather modern sculptures, and I liked it, although the Roman soldiers remind me of storm troopers, which is a bit unnerving on the front of a Roman Catholic church. I like that despite the modern feel of the sculptures; they still have the same purpose as the facades of every other gothic church: the facades tell the stories of the bible through pictures. Originally, this was because the parishioners could not read. Today the art is there for art’s sake, but I like the tradition of it.

Um, stormtroopers?

Veronica with the cloth she used to wipe the face of Christ

What is the truth?

Not all the stained glass is finished

The Nativity facade is far more traditionally gothic, and I think it's a little bit overdone compared to the rest of the church. From a distance, it just looks like a mess of curlicues, but up close, it's pretty awesome.