Historic, Vintage, Cool (Spain)

By Karen Beishuizen

I have this thing for anything historic, vintage or cool. Especially when it comes to hotels, restaurants, diners, cafes and music venues. I want to show you landmarks around the world which are Historic, Vintage and Cool.

We are in the city of Antoni Gaudi: Barcelona!

La Sagrada Familia

The Basílica i Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família is a Roman Catholic basilica designed by Antoni Gaudí.

Construction of La Sagrada Família began in 1882 and Gaudí began working on the project in 1883. He combined Gothic and curvilinear Art Nouveau forms and the basilica became his life’s work.

Built on a basic basilica plan, the Latin cross is surrounded on three sides by porticoes. To the east stands the Nativity facade with scenes celebrating Jesus’ birth; on the west is the Passion facade, depicting Jesus’ Crucifixion; and the main entrance boasts the Glory facade, showing how humans can celebrate the divine glory.

Gaudí’s original design calls for a total of eighteen spires, representing in ascending order of height:

The Twelve Apostles
The four Evangelists
The Virgin Mary, and, tallest of all, Jesus Christ.

The tower of the Virgin Mary, located above the apse of the church and rising to a height of 453 feet (138 meters), was inaugurated in December 2021. It is topped with a 12-pointed star that is illuminated at night. In 2022 the towers representing the evangelists St. Mark and St. Luke were completed; they measure 443 feet (135 meters) tall.

When a part of the tower of Jesus was lifted into place in 2025, it reached the height of about 534.48 feet (162.91 meters), making the Sagrada Família the tallest church in the world. It surpassed the then-tallest church, Ulm Minster in Germany, whose spire stands at 529.86 feet (161.5 meters), and is expected to rise up to 564 feet (172 meters) when it is completed in 2026.

Still incomplete, La Sagrada Família, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is projected to be finished on 10 June 2026, the 100th anniversary of Gaudí’s death.

For more information check out La Sagrada Familia’s website: HERE

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