Barcelona - Sagrada Familia

Antoni Gaudi's Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Familia is the most famous and unforgettable structure in Barcelona. According to the Rough Guide to Barcelona:

In many ways this has become a kind of symbol for the city ... It's an essential stop on any visit to Barcelona ... it speaks volumes about the Catalan urge to glorify uniqueness and endeavour. It is the most fantastic of the modern architectural creations in which Barcelona excels ... Even the coldest hearts will find the Sagrada Familia inspirational in form and spirit.

The church is a staggering 'work in progress'. Originally begun in 1882 as a conventional neo-Gothic creation, Gaudi took over the design at the age of 31 and spent the rest of his life working on what became an amazing moderniste building. Gaudi died in 1926 and his designs and models were to be destroyed by the anarchists in 1936. Only one facade had been completed by the time of Gaudi's death and, although spared during the civil war, it was not universally admired. The writer George Orwell wrote that it was "one of the most hideous buildings in the world", adding that the anarchists showed bad taste "in not blowing it up when they had the chance."

The construction was resumed in the 1950's amongst considerable controversy about its subsequent design. The building is even more remarkable on the inside than out because, virtually unique in the modern world, it gives visitors an impression of what it must have been like to see a cathedral-sized church being built in the middle ages.