Wanderlust World Wanderlust World In 1866, Josep Maria Bocabella i Verdaguer founded the Spiritual Association of the Devotees of St. Joseph with the purpose of promoting the Catholic Church at a time of religious instability in Spain. Part of his plan was to build a beautiful cathedral dedicated to the Holy Family. By 1881, the Association had raised enough money to purchase a plot of land and the foundation stone for the cathedral was laid on March 19, 1882.
Construction began on a design by architect Francisco de Paula del Villar, however Villar resigned from the project in 1883. Responsibility was passed to Juan Martorell Montells, who declined it and instead offered his young apprentice Antonion Gaudi, who officially took over in March 1883. Gaudi would spend the next 40 years working on the project, until his death in 1926. He left no plans for completing the cathedral and what notes he did leave were later destroyed by fire. In 1952, work began again on the cathedral and continued slowly.
Villar's original design was for a traditional neo-Gothic cathedral, but when Gaudi took over he altered the design significantly. He wanted to build a cathedral for the 20th century that would act as a visual explanation of the teachings of the Catholic Church. He planned a large church shaped like the Latin cross, with seven chapels to represent the seven sins of St. Joseph and 18 towers for the 12 apostles, four evangelists, the Virgin Mary and Jesus.
Visitors are welcome to tour the completed parts of the cathedral and regular Catholic services are also held there. The cathedral also pays host to a range of exhibitions; from collections of photographs documenting the project, to models of the finished concept and information about Gaudi and the influences present in his designs.