Barcelona part 7 Sagrada Familia
The BasÃlica i Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada FamÃlia is a large unfinished Roman Catholic church in Barcelona, designed by Catalan architect Antoni Gaudà (1852â€"1926). GaudÃ's work on the building is part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and in November 2010 Pope Benedict XVI consecrated and proclaimed it a minor basilica, as distinct from a cathedral, which must be the seat of a bishop. In 1882, construction of Sagrada FamÃlia started under architect Francisco de Paula del Villar. In 1883, when Villar resigned, Gaudà took over as chief architect, transforming the project with his architectural and engineering style, combining Gothic and curvilinear Art Nouveau forms. Gaudà devoted the remainder of his life to the project, and at the time of his death at age 73 in 1926, less than a quarter of the project was complete.