La Sagrada Família

The Basilica de la Sagrada Família, also referred to as the “Basilica of the Holy Family,” is a huge church in the center of the Spanish city of Barcelona. It’s world-famous because of its striking design and the fact that it remains unfinished today.

On 19 March 1882, construction of the Sagrada Família began under architect Francisco de Paula del Villar. In 1883, when Villar resigned, Gaudí took over as chief architect, transforming the project with his architectural and engineering style, combining Gothic and curvilinear Art Nouveau forms. Gaudí devoted the remainder of his life to the project, and he is buried in the church's crypt. At the time of his death in 1926, less than a quarter of the project was complete.

The style of the Sagrada Família is variously likened to Spanish Late Gothic, Catalan Modernism, or Art Nouveau. While the Sagrada Família falls within the Art Nouveau period, Nikolaus Pevsner points out that, along with Charles Rennie Mackintosh in Glasgow, Gaudí carried the Art Nouveau style far beyond its usual application as a surface decoration.

Pope Benedict XVI consecrated the church on November 7, 2010, and on his trip to Barcelona and Santiago de Compostela, he gave it the title of basilica. The church was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1984 and was included in a 2007 list of Spain's 12 treasures.

Location: Barcelona, Spain

Architect: Francisco de Paula del Villar, Gaudí