scrb11

There was an official announcement on 3/20/24 that the Sagrada Familia is expected to be completed in 2026, after over 140 years of construction.

I've never been inside but millions have and they've funded a lot of the construction.

https://thepointsguy.com/news/sagrad...c33865bd5f093b

Nice, so half the income used to fund construction costs and 1/4 goes to management.

Barcelona has so many cultural treasures but they've priced many of them so high that only relatively well-off visitors would buy tickets. I'm well-off but I absolutely balked at Casa Batllo and Sagrada Familia.

They're beautiful from the outside and I may just cave at some point.

There isn't a big pull for me to revisit Barcelona but I am interested in Costa Brava and Valencia so I'll probably end up there again.

LucieV

Barcelona, February 1970, inside Sagrada Familia -- loved every minute of it.
Couldn't wait to return.

Barcelona, May 2015, inside Sagrada Familia -- overwhelmed by the crowds & the mania.
Couldn't wait to get out.

mlgb

Sometime in the mid-2000's visited several of the "big" masterpieces. Casa Mila, Park Guell, Sagrada Famillia. It has been planned for completion in 2026, the 100th anniversary of Gaudi's death, since at least that time. They only had the shorter towers completed. You didn't need to buy tickets in advance, I just got there early and waited in line (not too bad). I only needed to reserve for Casa Mila.

hetismij2

Does it mention all the homes they want to destroy to build a staircase, that may or may not have been part of Gaudi's plan. Who even knows what his plan was any more since the originals were destroyed?

I hated the place. I'm with Orwell on it I'm afraid: “One of the most hideous buildings in the world” and he said that the anarchists showed a lack of taste for failing to blow it up when they had the chance.

Not drawn back to Barcelona. My one lasting memory of it is watching the people dancing the Sardana on the square in front of the cathedral, all their bags in a heap in the centre of each circle. That was a joy to watch.

kureiff

Sagrada Familia: visited for the first time four years ago, and I cried all the way through it. I loved it. All of the plant life! As a person who felt forced to leave the Catholic Church, I loved this church. The grapevines over the crucifix. A church dedicated to Joseph, a humble father. A space with so much light and warmth. It touched me.

Edited: I feel like the Gothic churches are meant to bring someone to understand the otherworldly part of God. I feel like the Sagrada Familia, and my very favorite Vatican II priests and parishes, are about reminding us of the humanity of God. And, man, the Sagrada Familia hit that for me in a way that no other giant church has. I am so glad I visited.

kureiff

Also, I loved this from John Paul II about Joseph:

Our world today needs fathers. It has no use for tyrants who would domineer others as a means of compensating for their own needs. It rejects those who confuse authority with authoritarianism, service with servility, discussion with oppression, charity with a welfare mentality, power with destruction. Every true vocation is born of the gift of oneself, which is the fruit of mature sacrifice.

I read this at the SF and loved it.

sassy27

I have yet to visit as Covid kindly canceled my planned visit. I’ve yet to be able to reschedule the trip. So with no prior experience, I am wouldn’t mind seeing it completed.

It isn’t nice knowing people are being asked to be displaced however, no one cares that where my relatives are buried, is being barred from any up keep because the state wants to built a major road over them. Life isn’t always fair is my only reasoning.

lcuy

It seems like a lot for management, but I'd guess that - like many commercial management contracts - it includes maintenance, security, taxes, utilities, insurance, and crowd control.
4.7 million visitors can create a lot of upkeep!

Sassafrass

Two sides to the story, nothing to do with the aesthetics of the staircase or if Gaudi would approve. That is for a different discussion.

There is an interesting discussion about the housing. It seems the housing was built as temporary housing providing extremely cheap rents with the understanding that it would be removed at some point in the future. The future dragged on so long, people tended to forget the original contract and how long they enjoyed the low rent.
The issue is presented as a problem that reflects allowing a lot of buildings that could be used as temporary housing to stand empty because owners do not want to deal with having to evict renters when the time arrives for changes to the building’s use.

https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/c...ada/?rdt=58872

About cost of tickets.
If I pay hundreds of dollars for plane tickets and more hundreds for places to stay for a week or two, I will certainly not skip seeing a major sight to save a few dollars. How much would you be willing to pay and what is the actual cost of the ticket? Ten dollars, twenty dollars? Probably not much when factored into the total cost of the trip. Honestly, once on a trip that has cost a couple thousand dollars, I balked at paying ten dollars for something I really wanted. Just stupid and I regretted it as soon as we left and it was too late. Now, I keep things like that in perspective.

zebec

Scrb, we're about to book a fall trip which will include open jaws: into Barca, both sides of the Pyrenees then out of Paris.
Never been to Barca. Not sure about braving crowds at Sagrada F or that park that begins with 'G'.

I am done. the new city

bilboburgler

I liked the "G" park especially because we accessed and left it by side alleys and some amazingly narrow steep staircases, god was there.

The cathedral, we visited maybe 30 years ago, despite the builders being in, the towers were all open and you could climb and climb, god was there. Was it a reason to visit Barcelona? Nah.

hetismij2

The cathedral or the basilica bilbo? Sagrada Familia is a basilica. the cathedral is in old Barcelona, and is where we saw the Sardana dancing.

I don't much like city trips I admit, but I really didn't like our trip to Barcelona, even though it was all expenses paid by DH's employer. Overcrowded, dirty, crime ridden, expensive, and that was twenty years ago, it has only got worse since.
My brother went last year, in November, after last visiting ten years ago, and declared never again.

bilboburgler

Sagrada

I found that staying in traditional hotels (often in the upper floors of the turn of last centuary buildings) and keeping well away from the Ramblas meant we felt very safe, like they say, "why do you rob banks?" "because that is where the money is" hence pickpockets focus on target rich environments

scrb11

Sure I understand that, if you prioritize those monuments, you should visit.

But the ticket prices in Barcelona are higher than comparable monuments in other world-class cities.

For instance, La Seu is not free and while it's magnificent compare it to cathedrals in France. Notre Dame didn't cost anything to enter unless you wanted to climb to the towers. Maybe that will change after restoration from the fire.

Casa Batllo and the other Gaudi buildings are unique but that ticket is higher than other buildings, like various palaces you can visit throughout Europe. In fact it may even be more than Versailles.

I remember the old days, before the Pyramid, Louvre didn't have air conditioning so in the summers they'd open the windows overlooking the Seine. Price was under $10 then.

The 26% of ticket revenues going to management is an eye-raiser. That may be an interesting career path because in some European cities, you have a lot of people who study art in university, hoping to enter a career in museum curation but the people who run museums are in no hurry to retire and there's more sellers than demand for those jobs.

Maybe look into running cultural attractions in Barcelona.

kureiff

We didn’t find Barcelona that way, at all, four years ago. Great food and walks. We were there in March. It was a little cold but lovely and not crowded.

maitaitom

Oh, if you do decide to visit, skip the towers. It's where the "Elevator List" was born. We enjoyed our 2015 La Sagrada Familia visit (to avoid crowds take the first timed entry), and actually liked it more when we reflected on what we had just seen, although it did provide me with an Iron Butterfly moment. Did I tell you to skip the tower?
https://travelswithmaitaitom.com/cha...rnist-marvels/

Sassafrass

I love city trips and quite liked Barcelona the first time, about 25 years ago, not so much the second time a few years back. Given that I adore Naples, Italy (with it’s myriad of problems), I obviously do not mind the overcrowding, the dirt or even the crime unless it is truly dangerous. Perhaps I just wasn’t in Barcelona long enough, but what immediately drew me to Naples has been a collective and repeated kindness towards others, including travelers and strangers, that stands out above any other city I have ever visited. Barcelona may have that, but we never experienced it.

zebec

Yo Scrb, there was once a 60 Minutes episode devoted to this basilica. Dunno how old and out of date that now is, but it may be of interest.
Yo MT, LOL! Loved your 2015 TR subtitle: 'Setting a good Eixample'.

To Barca or not to Barca - that is the question.
I am done. the Hoyt Axton hit