Seeing Gaudi's Barcelona
Architecture in Spain
I got a second chance at Barcelona! About 10 years ago, I planned my first solo international trip, backpacking around Europe. Barcelona was one of my stops. Barcelona is in the Spanish region of Catalonia. About 30% of Barcelonians speak Catalan as their first language. They're very proud of their heritage and many Barcelonians / Catalonians want to be independent from Spain.
I saw some cool things, but I’ve always regretted choosing not to go inside the Sagrada Familia. So this time I made up for it, it was the first thing I booked when I was planning what to do in Barcelona. What is the Sagrada Familia, you ask?
All About the Sagrada Familia
The Sagrada Familia is a very famous Basilica in Barcelona. Construction was started in 1882 and it’s still under construction. They project to have the exterior finished in 2026 though. Famous Barcelonian architect Antoni Gaudi designed most of the Basilica. Only one exterior facade was completed before he died. Gaudi has a really unique architectural style. It’s a little Dr. Seuss-y. He likes curves and colors. He loved incorporating nature and not just the straight lines of industry. He designed houses, buildings, and even street lamps all over Barcelona.
Did I take notes while I was listening to the audioguide at Sagrada Familia? You bet I did. :)
The entire basilica is designed to be just shorter than the nearby Mont Juc, because Gaudi believed man should not build higher than that which God has made.
There’s also a cloister around the whole building, which is why the shape from the outside doesn’t seem so cathedral-like (you know, the cross shape of most Catholic churches?). There is a cross-shaped floorplan for the interior (minus the courtyard cloister).
There are three main exterior facades, they’re covered in carvings. Each facade is meant to show a different period of Christ’s life. The facade we went in is the nativity facade. It shows scenes of Christ’s birth. The wisemen. Mary & Joseph. There are two on either side of the main door. The turtle closer to the sea has flippers, the other is a land turtle with legs. It’s details like that that I find really interesting. This facade (the nativity facade) was the only one to be finished in Gaudi’s lifetime.
There are so many statues and carvings on the outside, but you walk inside and there are barely any images. It’s really cool. Very beautiful stained glass, one side the colors represent the rising sun, the other, the setting sun. The columns are not all the same size, and they’re made of different types of stone so they’re also different colors. It’s supposed to resemble a forest, not all trees are the same size and color. There are 4 big columns in the middle, those are meant to represent 4 evangelists, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
He saw this basilica as a musical instrument for the city of Barcelona. Standing on the main level, you can look up and see seats for the choir and subtle images of what looks like music notes.
The real main entrance, the one that will be the main entrance when construction is finished, is the glory facade. It’s the side facing the sea. Gaudi wanted the entrance doors to face the sea.
Gaudi is buried in the crypt inside the Basilica.
The side I exited is the passion facade. There’s a square there with a bunch of numbers. If you draw a line through the squares inside the squares, not matter which way the line is drawn, the numbers will add up to 33. The age Jesus was when he died for our sins. On this passion side you see statues and images of the last day of Jesus’ life. Judas’ kiss. The crucifixion.
Even though there were a ton of people, it felt peaceful and sacred there. I would definitely put this down as my #1 recommendation of things to do in Barcelona.
Hop On Hop Off Bus Tour
Another thing I did differently this time, I got a hop-on-hop-off city bus pass. You know those double decker touristy buses? When I pre-bought a ticket for Sagrada Familia there was an offer to bundle a couple of things and I thought I’d add that one on.
They passed out headphones and at each seat there was a headphone jack that played a recording about different sites in Barcelona. I actually really enjoyed it. I liked learning the layout of the city a little better by completing the whole circuit. I also liked learning about many different parts of the city as we drove by.
In addition to Sagrada Familia, I went to Park Guell, which Gaudi designed his friend and benefactor Count Guell. The original plan was the area was going to be a neighborhood, Gaudi was designing housing, walkways, a church, etc. There are 3 viaducts for carriages. The columns are stone and they lean, meant to resemble trees. There’s a pink house in the middle of the park that is a model home for this community they were building.
It’s amazing how Gaudi is able to build large buildings, walls, and roads that seem to blend into the hill. Gaudi was a Catholic mystic, I mentioned before he loved incorporating nature into his designs. He mixed christian, Spanish / Catalan, and organic influences in his designs.
We drove past Casa Mila and Casa Batllo which are two other residences in Barcelona that Gaudi designed. Batllo has a marine inspired facade. It’s pretty cool.
I didn't get a great picture of Casa Batlló, so here's a royalty free one from off the internet ;)
Las Ramblas
I also made sure to visit and walk down Las Ramblas. It’s a tourist street with lots of shopping. It runs from the Columbus monument near the sea to Placa de Catalunya. Both sides have metro stops. As well as metro stops along the way. Most of the street is pedestrian, though there’s one lane of traffic on either side. I went almost 10 years ago when I first visited Barcelona, but there was a lot about it I didn’t remember. I remember being super vigilant about holding my purse last time I was there because everyone warned me “it’s the #1 spot for pick pocketers in the World”. I’ve survived it not once but twice.
I was just strolling down Las Ramblas with my playlist of 2,323 songs on shuffle. What song came on? Barcelona by Ed Sheeran. It was pretty great. :)
If you go, visit the Placa Cataluyna on one of the ends of the road. There's a 12th century church. On the other side you'll find the Columbus monument, near the ocean. This is also next to Barceloneta, the seaside area of Barcelona if you want to visit the beach.
Other Things to do and see in Barcelona
There’s a gothic quarter right next to Las Ramblas, Barri Gottic to the east that has some cool architecture.
My friend from Spain recommended that I eat at Les Quinze Nits, it has a really wonderful view of Placa Reial near Las Ramblas. The food was pretty good!
There is an Arc de Triomf in Barcelona, not the original one in Paris, but built by Josep Vilaseca i Casanovas for people entering the 1888 World Fair in Barcelona.
Food to try in Barcelona: paella, seafood, tapas, bread rubbed with a tomato spread (I had that for breakfast one morning)
You can take a cable care up to Mont Juic. There's a REALLY great view overlooking city. And the cable car takes you to best view of all.
Barcelona hosted the 1992 summer olympics. You'll see some remnants of that around Barcelona if you look for it. There's a community swimming pool at the top of mont juic.
Previously, Barcelona had bid for 1936 Olympics, but Berlin won the bid. People in Barcelona wanted to hold a people's Olympics anyway in protest, but when it was supposed to start Franco's army revolted and Spanish Civil War started (if you want, you can read my short novel on the basic history of Barcelona below) 😅.
In other cities in Spain I saw a few Bull fighting rings. It has its roots in an ancient ritual and in different medieval games. The fight of the matador vs bull is seen as a dance. The dance ends in the bull's death. In 2010 Cataluyna banned bull fighting, though it is still legal as of now (2025) in other places in Spain.
I also walked by the Hospital Sant Pau, where I had a very delicious caramel ice cream bar. The Hospital wasn't designed by Gaudi, but it has some unique architecture - a mix of styles with a complex facade. It was once a working hospital, but it isn't anymore.
If you like shopping the Sants neighborhood / Sants Street might be the longest continual commercial shopping street in Europe. Who's to say? The audio guide said 'might be' so I'm just repeating that.
History Lesson...
Incoming History Lesson Warning
The 'mountain' in Barcelona means 'Jewish Mountain'. This is where the city was founded. First probably be pre-Roman Iberians, then the Romans. The Islamic Moors sacked Roman Barcelona and carried away a lot of the population as slaves to Southern Spain. It wasn't a big city back then, probably around 2000 people.
There used to be a strong Jewish community in Barcelona, when the Catholic church gained more traction in Spain, they started to expel both Muslims and Jews. In the late 11th century Jews were confined to a district in Barcelona. El Call (pronounced 'Kell') was the district they were confined to. They were given a curfew and they couldn't be out past their curfew.
In the 12th & 13th centuries the Jews are defined as property of the king. In 1391 they were given an ultimatum= convert or die. 300 chose martyrdom and the other 700 chose to convert. You've probably heard of the Spanish Inquisition and the move to drive all non-Christian influence out of Europe... The role of Spanish inquisition was to make sure those Jewish conversions to Christianity were real. Freedom of religion hasn't been around all that long. Nor is it universal.
Mont Juic became a Jewish burial site, and in the 1640s it became a military fortress.
One beloved Spanish monarch was James I (1213-1276). He reigned during the 'golden age' of Barcelona. This was when Barcelona launched imperial conquests across Mediterranean. It was when Barcelona conquered Valencia. It also added Menorca, an island in the Mediterranean. It was also during this time that the Islamic population was slaughtered en mass. Francisco Franco would use James 1 as a symbol of Spain nationalism during the Spanish Civil War.
Then fast forward to the War of Spanish succession, it lasted from 1701-1714. It was basically a fight over who would have their candidate on the Spanish throne. It was between the French candidate and the Austrian one (Hapsburg). The Spanish king died without an heir so France and the Austrian Empire saw Spain as 'up for grabs'. The region of Catalan and the Valencian people didn't want the French candidate, so they supported the Austrian candidate. BUT the french were ultimately victorious. Britain also got involved to assert influence against the French. The British wanted anyone but the French at first. But eventually the British and French were able to negotiate and then Britain supported the French candidate.
On September 11 of 1714 Barcelona and the Catalans are conquered by the French / Bourbons. The result was that Catalan lost all of its political autonomy. French removed Catalan language and official Catalan practices. La Rivera (district / part of town) was demolished to install a French Fortress.
If you know anything about how many Barcelonians / Catalonians want to be indpendent from Spain, understanding this history makes it much easier to understand why.
You're still here???? YAY!!
A couple more things about Barcelona. Their main export is textiles and also wine. They're the 2nd most important player in the European textile industry (after England).
Barcelona's nickname is 'Workshop of Spain'. One has to question how colloquial these nicknames are though.
In the 19th century (1800s) Spainish citizens start to develop federalist ideas. There's also a strong anarchism movement. It was deeply anti-clerical. In 1835 there were anti-church riots at the Placa Reial. A convent there was burnt down. I thought about that as I was looking into the square while eating my lunch. Knowing the history of a place makes things like this a lot more impactful.
In 1936 there was a Spanish Civil War, right when WW2 was heating up in Europe. At the beginning of the Spanish Civil War republican ideals were much more popular. But the anarchists also had a strong influence on the revolution. At one point they were able to take control of the city. Then there were also the communists. They wanted to implement communist policies but thought they should win the Spanish Civil War first. Heard of Francisco Franco? He led Nationalist forces and took over the Spanish government in 1939 and ruled until 1975.
Insert your own 'moral of the story' lesson here. It's so interesting to me to learn these things about a place. It makes me feel like I understand it on a much deeper level.
About the Author
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