The unforgettable Basilica de la Sagrada Familia in Barcelona

Paris, France — Even as we are now under the shadows of the imposing Eiffel Tower, I cannot help but keep on remembering the breath-taking beauty and majestic elegance of the Gothic masterpiece, perhaps the best of Anton Gaudi's architecture, in the grand city of Barcelona, the iconic best of the best product of human hands, the Basilique de la Sagrada Familia.

Whenever I think of such a marvelous edifice, I recall the San Sebastian Church in the vicinity of the San Sebastian College in Manila' university belt. But with due respect, and without sounding irreverent, I wish to state with no fear of contradiction, that the Sagrada Familia basilica in Barcelona is a hundred times more majestic than San Sebastian. This is the same landmark that Dr Jose Rizal must have kept on gazing at when he spent years in Barcelona. And this is the edifice that I recommend young Filipino architects should go to and visit both the fantastic exterior and its awesome interior.

The facade of that Basilica is characterized by its portal with a huge porch standing on six columns, which in turn support a narthex, with 18 very beautifully carved columns that exude strength, elegance and beauty. This Basilica has been dedicated to the passion, death, resurrection and ascension of our Lord, Jesus Christ. The whole basilica had been originally planned by the Iberian Peninsula's greatest architect, Anton Gaudi. The structures which are extraordinarily powerful and expressively regal, as well as the seven bronze doors were the works of Spain's best sculptor, Jose Maria Subirachs. The central door features the Lord's Prayer in the Catalan's language and in 50 other languages in the world, including Pilipino.

There is a museum underground which features ancient paintings, drawings and old photos of that era. The sections of the cloisters were dedicated to the Virgin Mother, which includes the Cloister of Our Lady of the Rosary, the Cloister of Our Lady of Dolours ( patron saint of our town of Ronda, Cebu), as well as the Cloister of Our Lady of Monserrat, and the Cloister of Our Lady of Mercy. There are also seven chapels for private masses to be celebrated by thousands of pilgrims with their respective chaplains. The center is the presbytery, which includes the magnificent organ and the porphyry altar, above which hangs the baldachin, with the terracotta statue of our Lord, Jesus Christ that presides over the entire Basilica.

On a Latin cross floor plan Gaudi laid out 36 double twist columns to create reminiscent of trees in a forest, a clever trick to bring in natural light from the sky. The eastern facade is the Nativity, an exultation of creation and an ode to the perfect beauty of God's creation. I have never seen such a fabulous piece of human architecture in my whole seven decades of sojourn on earth. I could die inside that perfect creation of human hands, under the inspiration of the Omnipotent, of course.