What you should know about Visiting Barcelona’s Sagrada Familia
People love the Sagrada Familia. It’s the #1 rated tourist site in Barcelona and the most visited tourist attraction in Spain.
This post will cover the history of the Sagrada Familia and give you some practical advice on visiting. I also include lots of photos as well as my honest thoughts on the Basilica (because most people either love it or hate it).
The Sagrada Familia and Antoni Gaudi
The Sagrada Familia is the most famous piece of work of Antoni Gaudi (1852 – 1926), a project he spent most of his life on. Work started on the church in 1882 and it is scheduled to be completed in 2026. Despite the church not being finished it is already on the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites (having been added in 2005).
Gaudi was a Catalan architect with 4 great loves in his life: architecture, nature, religion and a love for Catalonia. He is today regarded as the most famous Catalan in history and is widely loved in his homeland.
Obvious in Gaudi’s work is his use of stained glass, ceramics and ironwork. There were Oriental influences in his work as well as gothic and art nouveau elements. But the overriding style is Catalan Modernism, a style where asymmetrical shapes are incorporated into design. You’ll see a lot of rounded shapes, curved lines and the use of elements found in nature (leaves, animals, flowers). Catalan Modernism has shaped Barcelona – it’s not just an architectural style but also a cultural movement, a movement that has made Barcelona a cultural and artistic capital. And it’s not just Gaudi – other architects such as Lluís Domènech I Montaner have also contributed to Calalan Modernist architecture in Barcelona (we were very impressed by Montaner’s work and recommend that visitors to Barcelona see Sant Pau hospital and Palau de la Música Catalana).
But of all the architects practicing the Catalan Modernism style, Gaudi was the most famous. And the Sagrada Familia is considered the pinnacle of the movement.
Tips for Visiting the Sagrada Familia
Being the most visited tourist site in the most visited city in Spain, you should plan ahead when visiting the Sagrada Familia.
- Buy your ticket in advance on the official website. I would recommend at least 2 weeks in advance. Note: The general ticket (26 Euros as of August 2024) includes an audio guide but does NOT include a visit to the towers.
- If you want to visit one of the towers you’ll have to pay another 10 Euros. You have to choose a tower group. I’m told the “Passion Towers” are slightly better to visit than the “Nativity Towers” because they give you better views towards the sea (vs views towards the mountains at the Nativity Towers).
- You should download the app for the audio guide before you arrive.
Below: you’ll get an downloadable ticket when buying online. You can also download the app (for the audioguide) at the same time so it’s ready when you go.
Photos of the Sagrada Familia
Thoughts on the Sagrada Familia
As I said at the top, you either love or hate the Sagrada Familia. It doesn’t leave people feeling indifferent.
You can’t help but be impressed by the multitude of colors being reflected by the huge panels of stained-glass windows. The light show is beautiful.
The columns, the designs on the ceiling, the weird “pods” (where the columns turn into tree branches) are otherworldly. They look like something out of a Sci-fi movie. It’s different than anything you’ve probably seen before.
That’s about where it ended with me. I wasn’t inspired by the Sagrada Familia.
I’m not at all religious and maybe I didn’t get the significance of it all. But I generally love religious buildings. We’ve seen Cathedrals, Churches and Cathedrals all over Spain, from the Cathedral of Ávila, the New and Old Cathedrals in Salamanca, the Burgos Cathedral, the Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar in Zaragoza, the Catedral Primada in Toledo and the incredible Mezquita-Cathedral in Cordoba. For me it’s all about the architecture and most of the above have left me breathless. The Sagrada Familia didn’t have the same impression on me.
I know most people won’t agree with me. But despite my feelings on it, the Sagrada Familia is an incredible endeavour by an incredible artist – people owe it to themselves to visit the Sagrada Familia and judge for themselves.
Related: The Top Things to Do in Barcelona (and costs!)
Love the photos! We did like Sagrada Familia, but we couldn’t go inside because we lost a lot of time after the passport and bag theft I told you about. So we just circled the outside. Maybe we’ll go again one day with our stuffed chained to us! I liked it because it’s so different and has so many details to catch. We get “churched out” if we see too many similar ones in one trip.
I’m sorry about your Barcelona experience Claudine. I think, personally, that I don’t like modern religious buildings. I visited the Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca and felt the same way, it just had all these modern touches and was too sleek with all these modern electric features…just don’t like it. But when I walk into an old Cathedral, like the Cathedral in Avila which is the earliest Gothic Cathedral in Spain, I’m just amazed and I imagine it back in the 11th century when it was built.