My Neat Neighborhood

I am fortunately to live in a flat that is perfectly located in Barcelona-in my eyes! I live onAvenida Gaudi, right next toGaudi’s masterpiece SagradaFamilia! This unbelievable church has been under construction since 1882. The church is not estimated to be done until 2026, which isGaudi’s 100^th anniversary of death.

Originally Sagrada Familia was conceived by Josep Bocabella, a Catalan publisher, whom wanted to explore the revolutionary ideas further. The first architect of SagradaFamilia took the project into his own hands. That architect wasFrancesc de Paula Villar. After some major arguments beforeBocabella and Villar, Gaudiagreed to be the main architect. Once Gaudi’s Park Guell was done in 1911, he began to devote one hundred percent of his time to Sagrada Familia.Unfortunatly in 1926, Gaudiwas hit by a tram and died two days later in a hospital. But the work still continued until the Spanish Civil War in 1935. When the Spanish War occurred, there was abit of damage to the church but nothing unbelievably awful. In 1956 once the war was over, construction began again. The current director is Jordi BonetArmegol. He uses computers for the construction process tobeable to visually see the hopeful final product. SagradaFamilia is the prime example ofGaudi’s Art Nouveau. The most vibrant part of the church are the 18 towers, which represent in order of height the twelve apostles, four evangelists, and the Virgin Mary (tallest of all Jesus Christ). One of the most amazing parts of this church is the aspect of funding. Private preachers were the funders of the beginning stages. Now, the church relies on the tickets bought by tourists and private donations. In 2009, in total, the construction budget is 18 million euros. It is quite aprivilege to be able to wake up every day and see the most amazing church Gaudidesigned.