Sagrada Familia - Spectacular Celebration

[+ azdr0710]

(this is not a religious/political/theater/travel/museums and parks/Europe post!)

a forum search turned up nothing about the June 10 celebration of the completion earlier this year of the "Tower Of Jesus Christ", making it now the tallest church in the world (172.5 meters/566 feet)......the below youtube is just one of many by various content creators, including the Vatican(!), now playing.......the Pope was there to witness the celebration on the 100th anniversary of Gaudi's death..... the production was, to me, nothing short of incredible......sound, music, lighting, fireworks, and a fantastic use of drones (I've never seen anything like this before) to imagine Gaudi looking down at the people, then his church, with a smile then appearing amid a roar of approval from the audience.....the drones then go on to create a couple messages (in Catalan, of course!).......the church was deliberately built to be exactly one meter shorter than nearby Montjuic (hill) as Gaudi felt no man-made object should be taller than (God's) natural objects.....2035 full church completion date planned.....

go full screen and crank that volume! (goosebumps and misty eyes!)

.

 

Edited Thursday at 03:41 AM by azdr0710

[+ Vegas_Millennial]

The drone image was creepy, but inspirational given the background story you provided.  Thanks!

[maninsoma]

I'm not going to watch the video and I don't mean to diminish your response to it, but just based on the thumbnail my first reaction is "why is a church spending so much money on a vanity project when something lesser would do and they could spend that money helping those in poverty?"

[BigK]

Spectacular! Thanks for posting.

[wsc]

A great moment for Barcelona and for Spain, no doubt, and quite the spectacle for all to see. BUT ... the architecture of the building has always been polarizing. Personally, I find its design at best unconventional and at worst approaching the grotesque, lacking in both charm and grace. Big? Absolutely! Warm, comforting, inviting? For me, not so much, as I prefer the lines and symmetry of St. Patrick's in New York, London's Westminster Abbey, or St. Peter's in Rome; traditional vs avant-garde. But some love escargot and others don't. It's a matter of taste.

[+ sync]

As visually impressive as it is/was, I'm dazzled by the planning, scope, and precision of the presentation of it all.  Successfully striking a match is an achievement for me.

[+ Jamie21]

Outside it seems a bit of a muddle, probably because it’s had so many different architects. Inside it’s astonishing and the light and space is astounding. It deserves its place in the pantheon of cathedrals. 

[marylander1940]

10 hours ago, maninsoma said:

I'm not going to watch the video and I don't mean to diminish your response to it, but just based on the thumbnail my first reaction is "why is a church spending so much money on a vanity project when something lesser would do and they could spend that money helping those in poverty?"

 

Is building a church a vanity project? With that mentality for example gay men shouldn't go on cruises considering the "famine" in Gaza...

 

When I go to San Francisco if I have no access to the Club/Concierge Lounge, I treat myself to a Starbucks coffee, should I donate that money to a homeless person n the streets? 

 

It's private money and folks can donate it to whoever or whatever they want. 

 

From google:

 

The Sagrada Família receives zero funding from the Spanish government, the Vatican, or corporate sponsors. Designated as an "expiatory temple," its massive construction budget is financed almost entirely by private donations and ticket sales from millions of annual visitors. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]

The financial model of the basilica relies on several distinct revenue streams: [1]

• Ticket Sales: Entry fees (ranging from basic visits to guided tower access) generate the overwhelming majority of the basilica's construction budget. [1]

• Private Donations: Contributions from global worshippers, individual patrons, and the Spiritual Association of Devotees of St. Joseph continue to support the long-term project. [1, 2]

• Self-Generated Revenue: Merchandising, audio guide rentals, and on-site museum exhibits supplement these funds. [1]

In recent years, the foundation has generated roughly €135 million annually in private income, with the majority reinvested directly into completing the structure and carving architectural details. Because construction relies exclusively on this pay-as-you-build model, the pace of the project has been directly tied to the volume of visitor traffic. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

[soloyo215]

12 hours ago, azdr0710 said:

(this is not a religious/political/theater/travel/museums and parks/Europe post!)

a forum search turned up nothing about the June 10 celebration of the completion earlier this year of the "Tower Of Jesus Christ", making it now the tallest church in the world (172.5 meters/566 feet)......the below youtube is just one of many by various content creators, including the Vatican(!), now playing.......the Pope was there to witness the celebration on the 100th anniversary of Gaudi's death..... the production was, to me, nothing short of incredible......sound, music, lighting, fireworks, and a fantastic use of drones (I've never seen anything like this before) to imagine Gaudi looking down at the people, then his church, with a smile then appearing amid a roar of approval from the audience.....the drones then go on to create a couple messages (in Catalan, of course!).......the church was deliberately built to be exactly one meter shorter than nearby Montjuic (hill) as Gaudi felt no man-made object should be taller than (God's) natural objects.....2035 full church completion date planned.....

go full screen and crank that volume! (goosebumps and misty eyes!)

.

I saw it twice, once in 2012 and then in 2023. In 2023 there were talks about the church being "almost done", and back then they expected it being finished in 2027. Seems like they finished ahead of schedule.

It is super impressive, though I find its details outside to be too much to look at, they have nativities scenes, christmas trees, scenes from several bible stories and a lot of other christian symbols. They cannot be appreciated from afar, but when you get closer your get overwhelmed with the so many details.

Gaudi sounds like he was not exactly an easy person to work with (he actually lived in that church for some time while being built to ensure things went as he envisioned them), but the end result is (IMO) a masterpiece.

Worth the effort, I guess.

To me this is another excuse for me to return to Barcelona.

[dutchal]

9 hours ago, wsc said:

A great moment for Barcelona and for Spain, no doubt, and quite the spectacle for all to see. BUT ... the architecture of the building has always been polarizing. Personally, I find its design at best unconventional and at worst approaching the grotesque, lacking in both charm and grace. Big? Absolutely! Warm, comforting, inviting? For me, not so much, as I prefer the lines and symmetry of St. Patrick's in New York, London's Westminster Abbey, or St. Peter's in Rome; traditional vs avant-garde. But some love escargot and others don't. It's a matter of taste.

I find Sagrada Familia to be a masterpiece precisely because it transcends the traditional styles.  It takes the Gothic idea of directing your gaze and thoughts upwards and raises it to an entirely new level, and does the same for the medieval tradition of using the stained glass windows and stone carvings of figures and symbols as teaching tools.   The building is a fantastic exercise in symbolism.  It is Gaudi's imagination made real, a statement that you must reach into your own imagination to begin to understand the divine and your relationship with the supernatural.  It stands there to demonstrate how faith can give you a whole new way of viewing the world.

Edited Thursday at 04:37 PM by dutchal

[Rod Hagen]

Beautiful.  God I love that Freakin' city.  Would move there in a second if I could.

[BSR]

19 hours ago, maninsoma said:

I'm not going to watch the video and I don't mean to diminish your response to it, but just based on the thumbnail my first reaction is "why is a church spending so much money on a vanity project when something lesser would do and they could spend that money helping those in poverty?"

In other words:  there must be no public beauty!

[Luv2play]

15 hours ago, wsc said:

A great moment for Barcelona and for Spain, no doubt, and quite the spectacle for all to see. BUT ... the architecture of the building has always been polarizing. Personally, I find its design at best unconventional and at worst approaching the grotesque, lacking in both charm and grace. Big? Absolutely! Warm, comforting, inviting? For me, not so much, as I prefer the lines and symmetry of St. Patrick's in New York, London's Westminster Abbey, or St. Peter's in Rome; traditional vs avant-garde. But some love escargot and others don't. It's a matter of taste.

It’s the only great ecclesiastical architecture of the 20th century. Something to celebrate.

PS. 

I had to refresh my memory of the church’s history. It actually dates from the latter part of the 19th century and was inspired by gothic principles. But Gaudi’s design adopted art nouveau features which now dominate the overall architecture. He also designed an apartment building in Barcelona which embodied the same design features.

Edited Thursday at 10:27 PM by Luv2play

[Luv2play]

8 hours ago, Jamie21 said:

Outside it seems a bit of a muddle, probably because it’s had so many different architects. Inside it’s astonishing and the light and space is astounding. It deserves its place in the pantheon of cathedrals. 

Is that true? I studied architecture at university and St. Peter’s is an example of various architects working on it over the centuries. There are other cathedrals like that as well including here in Canada where the church started as a gothic revival and then transformed into a renaissance style in the upper levels as tastes changed. 
The Sagrada Família today reflects Gaudi’s original vision, no?

 

[ACluelessGent]

20 hours ago, maninsoma said:

I'm not going to watch the video and I don't mean to diminish your response to it, but just based on the thumbnail my first reaction is "why is a church spending so much money on a vanity project when something lesser would do and they could spend that money helping those in poverty?"

Because this church, or monument, or mere building, generates much more. It is not a vanity project, but a carefully planned investment.

[+ Jamie21]

1 hour ago, Luv2play said:

Is that true? I studied architecture at university and St. Peter’s is an example of various architects working on it over the centuries. There are other cathedrals like that as well including here in Canada where the church started as a gothic revival and then transformed into a renaissance style in the upper levels as tastes changed. 
The Sagrada Família today reflects Gaudi’s original vision, no?

 

Yes, but some of his plans were destroyed so later architects have had to interpret and try to piece together what he wanted. 

[WoolCave]

21 hours ago, Rod Hagen said:

Beautiful.  God I love that Freakin' city.  Would move there in a second if I could.

Why can’t you? 

[aiseeya]

On 7/16/2026 at 8:23 AM, maninsoma said:

I'm not going to watch the video and I don't mean to diminish your response to it, but just based on the thumbnail my first reaction is "why is a church spending so much money on a vanity project when something lesser would do and they could spend that money helping those in poverty?"

Reading this comment on a forum famously catering discussions around sex and escort is 🙄 🤦‍♂️

[marylander1940]

[marylander1940]

 

[Rod Hagen]

4 hours ago, WoolCave said:

Why can’t you? 

Don't want to go off topic, but simply never understood how Americans navigate healthcare and old age when they move to another country.

 

[Luv2play]

1 hour ago, Rod Hagen said:

Don't want to go off topic, but simply never understood how Americans navigate healthcare and old age when they move to another country.

 

Not a problem if they have a boatload of money.