DB Family Europe Grand Tour 22

Words and pictures can't do this justice. The feeling inside, with the play of light on the stone and the careful symbolism of each swirl and color is extraordinary.

Construction has been going on for 140 years, and it has survived war, plague, and famine. When completed, it will be the tallest church in the world (but not taller than the tallest mountain in Barcelona, because Gaudi didn't want to compete with God's creation).

Gaudi took his architecture inspiration from nature, since God is the greatest Architect.

"He noted parabolas in the buttressed roots of figs and capoks and designed them into his columns and walls. He utilised spirals, honeycombs and the planoid surfaces of magnolia leaves. The four-armed crosses on top of his cathedral are drawn from the pine cones of cypresses, and the light wells resemble the shape of protozoa.

He said, 'The great book, always open and which we should make an effort to read, is that of nature.' He thought of the catenary curve, which is produced by the force of gravity acting on a straight line suspended between two places, as in a chain fence or a spider's web, as the embodiment of perfection and considered it his religious 'duty' to use it in his designs."Read more