VISIT TO BARCELONA:

PARK GÜELL AND SAGRADA FAMILIA

Friday, April 26, was the last day with the exchange students. We went to Barcelona to see some of the most important monuments and places there.

First, we stopped at the Triumphal Arch to have breakfast and take some photos of this beautiful structure.

In the morning, we took a walk through Park Güell, a park comissioned by Eusebi Güell and designed by Antoni Gaudí.

Eusebi Güell was born on December 15, 1846, and he died on July 8, 1918 in Barcelona. He was an important politician, businessman and a patron of arts and letters. He studied science, economics and mathematics in different countries. He is famous because of his work, as a patron of Antoni Gaudí, he ordered to Gaudí to build Park Güell and Palau Güell.

After visiting Park Güell, we went to Plaça Catalunya to see this emblematic place in Barcelona.

At midday, we went in small groups to have lunch and visit some shops on our own. Afterwards, we visited the Sagrada Família. We had a guided tour at 5:30 p.m. Once there, a guide explained the history of the Sagrada Família. She told us that the construction follows the design of Antoni Gaudí, who had created all the drawings and models of the Sagrada Familia with specific instructions for how it should be built, before his death. We learnt about the facades, the Nativity Facade (which is the most detailed because it symbolizes the joy of life through nature) and the Passion Facade (which is less detailed and represents the death and resurrection of Jesus). The guide also explained that some columns are shaped like trees, and the glasses of the windows are of different colours, in one side of the wall there are red glasses and on the other one there are green and blue glasses. The red glasses symbolize the day, because when the sun appears inside the monument the light is red and orange like sunrise, and later it changes to the blues and greens of the later day, symbolizing nature.They explained to us the years of construction of each part. First, they built the chapel of Sant Josep, and the crypt, which was completed in 1885. Then, in 1891 they started the construction of the Nativity Facade. In 1954, when the Nativity Facade was completed, they started putting the foundations of the Passion Facade. After that they built the towers of the Evangelists Virgin Mary and Jesus. They continued with the cross on the top of the Passion Facade, in 2018. In 2022 the towers of Marc and Lluc and in 2023 the towers of Joan and Mateu (the Evangelists) were completed.

                                                                                                                                    Irina and Carla