August 9, 2026
Where We Accomplish The First Of Two Goals We Have For This Adventure:
Visit the basilica Sagrada Familia During the 100th Anniversary Year of Anton Gaudi’s Death.
We fell in love with Anton Gaudi’s work in 2010 when we visited Barcelona for the first time. We were on a round-trip Mediterranean cruise from Barcelona. We stumbled across his work accidentally, when we saw a photo of the Sagrada Familia on a postcard in a gift shop.
We’ve been big fans of Anton Gaudi and the Sagrada Familia ever since. Gaudi died in 1926 when he was hit by a tram in Barcelona. The basilica was still in the early stages of construction even after 40 years.
In 2010 we decided we’d come back to Barcelona to see the basilica in the year it was planned/predicted it would be finished – 2026 on the 100th anniversary of Gaudi’s death.
We’ve been back to Barcelona a few more times since 2010. I think the last time we visited inside the basilica was 2019.
So today was the day we returned to the Sagrada Familia. No, it’s not finished; no surprise there. But Pope Leo came on June 10, 2026 (exactly the 100th anniversary of Gaudi’s death) and declared the Sagrada Familia the tallest church in the world, because the Jesus tower is now complete. There’s still stuff to do on the inside. More towers need to be built, but at the moment there are apartment buildings standing on the land where those towers are supposed to go.
Our tour guide, Alicia, met us at 9:00 a.m., and we started our tour of the neighborhood where our hotel is located. It’s called the Gothic quarter; it’s the oldest part of the city. Of all the times we’ve visited Barcelona, this was the first time we ever saw the old quarter.
This is a small section of the original Roman city wall. The large stones at the bottom are Roman. The smaller stones higher up are medieval.
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We continued walking through the gothic quarter towards the cathedral
This building dates from 1410 - it is the first "skyscraper" in BarcelonaWe eventually arrived at Plaza Nova, the main square, with city hall behind us.
Barcino is Barcelona’s original name back during Roman times.
We continued on our way to the Plaza de la Seu where the cathedral is located. It's commonly called "the Barcelona Cathedral", but it's formal full name is "Cathedral of the Holy Cross and Saint Eulalia", a 14th century Gothic church. The facade is modern - it is a neo-Gothic facade added at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries.
We took a brief visit at the Palau de la Musica, mostly for a bathroom break before heading over to the Sagrada Familia, but also to take a look at the parts on the main floor that don't require a ticket
Front facade
Old ticket booth
The following are interior shots
On the back side of the building
We took a taxi over to Sagrada Familia. We had asked our tour guide if we could arrange the tour such that we could stay at the basilica after the official tour was over and stay as long as we wanted.
It's very difficult to show in photos how amazing this building is. It's constantly changing - it's been under construction since the 1880s. The original goal was for it to be finished by 2026 in time for the 100th anniversary of Gaudi's untimely death in 1926. The story goes: he was hit by a tram, but no one knew who he was, because he dressed modestly and not like a wealthy famous person. He died a couple of days later on June 10, 1926. Good bet he might have survived the accident if this had happened in 2026.
Gaudi's signaature design feature is how he takes inspiration from nature. Everything about this basilica reflects that.
This is the entrance or "happy" side, with the birth of Christ.
This is a closeup of the Christmas tree.
This is the back or "sad" side with the passion and crucifixion of Christ.
This is the "back" or "sad" facade with the passion of Christ. You can see the crucifixion in the shadow between the two center columns. Everything in white or lighter color is new, and the darker color is older. The Jesus tower - recently completed and blessed by Pope Leo XIV in June as the tallest church in the world - is in the center of all the towers up on top.
Not sure what this structure is, but it wasn't there when we last visited in 2019, when we were able to walk into that small building in front with the red tile roof.
This is a closer view of the Mary tower (with the dove on top at the left) and the Jesus tower (with the cross), and lower decorative towers with fruit at their pinnacles.
Here's a bunch of photos of interior stained glass windows:
Eastern wall - blues to greet the morning sun
Oranges and reds for the afternoon sun
Glow from the western windows.
Rose windows
Rose windows
The top most pane is still unfinished
These are photos of interior structures.
Ceiling photos
These photos are from the museum attached to the church, which was, thank G0d, air conditioned.
This is the original model for the design
He used tiny bags of rice hanging on strings to engineer the towers. Since it's hanging down, it's the reverse of how the towers appear in reality
Gaudi's tomb is under the museum and is not for viewing by the public. Except for the pope, that is. This is a photo of a photo of his tomb.
After our visit to Sagrada Familia, we had lunch at a place recommended by our front desk guy, Fajad. I don't seem to have any photos of what we ate, but it was awesome, as all our meals have been.
Then we wandered around a bit looking at souvenir stores in the area, until it was obvious that the heat was getting to me, and it was time to get back to the hotel and air conditioning.
Tomorrow: Montserrat
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