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Many things are worth seeing when on your BARCELONA HOLIDAY RENTALS and one of them started back in 1872 as an idea from an inspired Catalan bookseller Josep María Bocabella. He had founded the Asociacion Espiritual de Devotos de San José in 1866, and was on a return trip from the Vatican when he passed the Basilica Della Santa Casa in Loreto, Italy. Inspired by its beauty he had the idea of building a replica in Barcelona and dedicating it to the Holy Family. An offer from the Duchess of Almenara Alta of the use of some land she owned, that could on her death be donated, never came to fruition as she died before legally donating the land. The Asociacion was forced to seek an alternative site with very little resources. They purchased a block of land 12,800 square metres further away from the centre of town than originally anticipated. The devout Asociacion had wanted to build the new church to decrease the amount of de-Christianization they felt, bought on by industrialization and the growing wealth of the population. With extremely limited funds available, the Architect Francisco de Paula del Villar offered to design a Neo Gothic church with three naves. Construction started on March 19th 1882. Paula del Villar had wanted to use ashlar columns which were more expensive than completing the interior with rubble work and then covering them with ashlar. The arguments between Paula del Villar and the council were about the architects overspending of Asociacion funds. One letter to Bocabella from Paula del Villar told him that if instructions were not followed then he would have no option than to resign from the project. His offer of resignation accepted and a new architect found in the guise of a young man 31 years old called Gaudi. At the time the columns were under construction, only two of them had reached the capitals. Gaudi set about modifying Paula del Villar’s project. Digging out a trench and other modifications all helped to increase the natural lighting of the building. In December 1884 Gaudi officially signed his first plans showing designs of the Alter section of the Capilla de San José. This was inaugurated the following March with its first mass the following day. Gaudi planned 12 towers dedicated to the Apostles, the central tower dedicated to Jesus Christ, around those 4 towers dedicated to the Evangelists and a tower over the apse to be dedicated to the Virgin Mary. The towers are parabolic with helical stairways. The centre part is hollow with tubular bells placed as carillon, so the sound of which could be combined with up to several thousand voices which is the capacity of the galleries inside the temple. Gaudi spent four years studying the sound of the bells with the intention that three of them would be tuned to the notes “E”, “G” and “C” while other bells to be used as percussion with tubular bells that air could be injected through them. The nativity facade has three doors dedicated to Faith, Hope and Charity and the design of the facade has 100 species of animal and 100 of plant life sculpturally represented. Sadly Gaudi, who dedicated most of his life to the Sagrada Família, died in 1926. Only the Nativity Facade, one of the towers, the apse and the crypt were finished because of his constant improvising and design changes. The few designs and models that he had left have since been destroyed during the Spanish Civil War. Architects though have a fair idea of his proposals. Work continues; everything is paid for by donations and hopefully all will be finished in 2026, one hundred years after the death of Gaudi. Once completed, it will have enough capacity for 13,000 people. Most hopefully will be the locals and not just the tourists on their BARCELONA HOLIDAY RENTALS.
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