Sagrada Familia Interior

The next day promised more foul weather, so we stayed close to home, me exploring nearby Matamor, Vicki staying in the campground. But on the 5th we ventured back into Barcelona, having purchased online tickets for the Temple Gaudi, and finally did the grand tour of the nascent church. We had decided not to do the interior back in 2010, since it sounded like much work was still going on inside. But by 2013, after the consecration by the now Pope Emeritus, it looks pretty finished. And pretty much as promised.

Nave; packed; it's really not that large a
church, bow to stern

Ceiling; you're supposed to think you're in a forest...

Typical of the many windows; more about
effect-lighting than Biblical story-telling

Dome above the altar; the guy understood
lighting, for sure

Altar: Jesus parapente

Clerestory (?)

Stairways to the heights; there are to be four
choirs and four organs

St. Darth...

Now in the workshop/crypts: cad-cam model
making for the craftsmen above

And in the crypt/museum: the church as it
was in 1926 when Gaudi died: the Nativity
face and the four Evangelists' towers

Gaudi funeral procession; an old man, living
on the construction site, he was hit by a tram
and died 3 days later; dressed as a tramp, no
taxi drivers would carry him to a hospital; he
was not recognized until near death; major
take-aways here: always look both ways;
never dress as a tramp

Crypt view

In the cloister, the Temptation of Man, with
an anarchist's bomb...

Back inside, a last look, up

And around; in addition to one of the larger gift shoppes in
Christendom, there also were...hey, careful man, there's a
beverage here...machines

More Modernisme

After the hospital we took an inadvertently long hike, in search of a restaurant that turned out to be non-existent, at Fodor's address anyway, but then found another, Cafe Bilbao, which was fine, and then spent the rest of the day walking back through the Eixample to our shuttle at Placa Catalonia.

Cafe Bilbao was really a more neighborhood place, I think;
quite busy, and evidently not accustomed to tourists; one
wall was covered with memorable art, much concerning the
restaurant itself

It was hearty fare, 3 courses and all you could
drink wine; the above, my favorite, the
appetizer, three eggs baked in cream with
cheese and chorizo; I could have stopped
there...

After which we walked slowly back to the
Place Catalonya and our bus, noting any
number of Modernista structures; here, one
of our favorites, the Casa Comalot

At the Hospital, Vicki had found a guidebook
on the Ruta de Modernistas, and it became
our chief guide to Barcelona in succeeding
days

More of the Casa Comalot

The back side wasn't bad either; could easily
have passed for a Gaudi

And here another favorite, the Casa Asia

Impressive grill work

Looking up the central stairwell; that's as far as we got; it's
a private residence

Sant Pau Art Nouveau Hospital

A Catholic charity hospital, the original Santa Creu i Sant Pau started way back in 1401. But in the early 20th century a banker's incredibly generous bequest made it possible to build a new hospital, indeed an entire health-care campus. The Moderniste Lluis Domenech i Montener (of Palau de la Musica fame) was chosen as chief architect, and what he proposed was a complex of nearly 50 pavilions, each dedicated to a specific condition or medical speciality, with ample green space, open air, and some 145 square meters allotted to each patient. Montener worked on the project for the rest of his life (he died in 1923), and then his son took over on the 18 pavilions that actually were completed (including a chapel). The complex was in use for many years, but then new structures were added that were not part of the original Moderniste project. In any case, Montener was as famous a Moderniste as Gaudi, and the Sant Pau one sees today, much degraded and in the process of restoration, is the world's only Art Nouveau hospital. It became a World Heritage site in 1997, and today is Europe's largest architectural/artistic restoration project. The tour we took was exemplary. I'll just let the photos speak for themselves.

Wednesday At The Sagreda Familia

Or the Sangria Familia, as we used to call it. We figured we'd do two of the biggies Wednesday, the Temple Gaudi and the St. Pau Hospital. From the Placa Catalanya we unfortunately decided to walk to the Sagreda Familia. By the time we got there, the line stretched from the Nativity to the Passion, which is to say, from one end of the church to the other. It was at this point we decided we would try the online tickets (no line to speak of) another day, take a spin around the church to see what progress has been made since 2010, and then to head on to the St. Pau Hospital.

Early spring in Barcelona; very early spring

Above the Nativity face, the four bell-towers of the
Evangelists and the four construction cranes of the Four
Horseman of Our Lady (Struldreher, Miller, Crowley and
Layden)

The Glory face, which will be completed last; my inner
Medievalist is revolted by all the rebar and poured concrete

Anatomically correct Jesus at the Passion;
we noted later that Gaudi had pictures of the
Ravenna cathedral in his study; was he a
closet Arian?

Likeness of Gaudi on the left, taking notes on the Passion;
by a contemporary sculptor, the guy who did the whole
Passion set of scenes

Looking back down the Avinguda de Gaudi
to the great church

Santa Maria Del Mar

One of Vicki's most recent reads--thank you, Jane--was Ildefonso Falcone's Cathedral of the Sea, set in 14th century Barcelona, concerning, in part, the building of the Church of Santa Maria del Mar. So we had to go see it. And I am glad we did, because it is a fascinating structure, younger than some of the greater Gothics, mid-14th century, but built entirely within the span of 50 years, under the same architect, one Montagut de Berenguer, and replete with Christian numerology. Santa Maria del Mar contrasts emphatically with Barcelona's great Modernisme structures, but warrants attention just as much as they. According to our guidebooks, it is the best example of Catalan Gothic. Plus, admission is free.

West facade; I should note that the curious
feature at the bottom, just left of center, is
nothing spiritual, but rather just

The work of the ubiquitous Bubble Guy, whom we last saw
in Venice; I've got to learn how to do this...

Stern to bow look; a medium-sized Gothic (Mediterranean
or Catalan Gothic, to be precise) church, said to be the best
of them

One of those relatively unadorned, un-
plastered churches I like, where you can
see every stone, every detail of how it fits
together and what holds all that stone so
high up there; and for so many centuries

Over the apse; numerology time: Mary's
number is 8, and so every dimension in the
structure here is 8 or some multiple of 8: the
pillars are all octagonal, there are 16 of them,
they are 16 m high, then branch out in
the vaulting 16 m, to the ceiling, 32 m; etc.
And you thought it was all about lateral and
downward forces and buttressing and such!

Some serious restorative work going on above the apse;
here's a guy hoisting

These puppies up into the heights for further finishing and
placement

Nice rose window

Altar, with Mary, Baby J, and, appropriately, a caravelle at
her feet, seeking protection from the "restless wave"

Interlude: Priest Of High Tech

So we were resting outside the Cathedral of
Barcelona, wondering whether we'd regret
not paying the 6 or 8 euros admission fee,
when I saw this guy, possibly a priest,
priest re-enactor (we have seen such things),
or holy tour guide, synch-ing his tablet, his
smart phone, with God-knows-what-else;
note the earphones and mike, too; high
priest of tech?

The Cathedral; Barcelona has long been
anti-Roman, despite being overwhelmingly
Catholic; so Gothic works here, as we'll see in
the next post; meanwhile I have resolved to
try a new strategy for getting into the higher-
priced churches: tell them I need to confess...
I really, really, need to confess...the Voices
demand that I confess, now (don't worry,
I have lots to confess)

We are still processing this one; "no diving,
except off hotels"?