La Familia from the Outside In

Yesterday, I wrote on the outside carvings at The Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, which, to me, are amazing, especially in the sense that one person gave his entire working life to its construction. There may be more people in the world who gave an entire lifetime to one single project, but Gaudi and Michelangelo are the only two people I am aware of that have that distinction. Of course, each of these men did produce more than their most worked on projects, The Sagrada Familia and the Sistine Chapel respectively, but those two works of art dominated their lives.

Today, I want to show the inside of the basilica.

Light streams in from all sides of the cathedral. According to the guide, the light shows varying colors according to the time of day you view the inside chapel. For instance, in the morning, you may view a yellow tint, and the afternoon there may be a red or orange tint with blue showing in the early evening sunlight. (See picture to the right and below)


















When you look at the picture above, you notice the wired balcony. These small balconies are along the sides of the chapel, and this is where the choir sings. We were not able to experience this, but I could imagine the sounds echoing from the walls.


Since I am learning about stain glass, I couldn't help but marvel at the colors used in the panes of glass (to the right). I could not even imagine how long it took them to make these window panes. For me, a novice, forever!

This is a picture of the ceiling. Notice the slight tilt of the columns as well as the light diffusers at the top of the ceiling. So the sunlight is not scorching, the round diffusers filter the light as it streams into the chapel. The architects thought of everything!

The altar (left) has the crucifix suspended from the ceiling with an umbrella-like canopy over the crucifix and lights surrounding the canopy.  The altar is in the front in the chapel with the stain glass windows surrounding the area, and then the balconies are around the windows filtering the varying colors into the chapel. As I walked to the back of the chapel, I saw the shell basin for holy water (above, right).

After touring the facade of the basilica and being awestruck with the intricate symbols of Christianity chiseled into the stone, and touring the inside of the chapel, I paid to go to the tower. I almost did not go since the stairs are very narrow and steep and reminded me of the steps to New York City's Statue of Liberty. Narrow, winding and steep. The higher you go, the narrower the walls become, just like in New York, but once up, I saw Barcelona in its glory. And it was worth it. The photo at the right shows the view between the two walls.


The photo below shows another view of Barcelona from the tower with a better angle. This clean, well kept and to me, safe, city was mine to explore in the following few days.

Tomorrow, I will show you around the Barcelona I saw. In my time there, I know I only saw a portion of this wonderful city, and from what I have seen, it means, I want to go back. I need to see more.

Until tomorrow...have a great day!