Spain

Sagrada Familia

Who knows where the road will lead us ……..

The Sagrada Familia is a symbol of Barcelona all over the world with its distinctly modernistic architecture of Antoni Gaudi. Probably founded in around 230 BC by Carthaginians (Phoenicians whose sphere of influence stretched from north Africa into Spain and the western islands in the Mediterranean in 7-3 BC.), Gaudi took over the project in 1883 with a desire to make it a Cathedral for the Twentieth Century, using complex symbolism and providing a visual explanation of the mysteries of faith.

Gaudi was hit and killed by a tram in 1926 with the project unfinished. It remains so to this day as controversy surrounds the argument for its completion.

As this note started with the words of the Alan Parsons Project so it ends – until the next time, Sagrada Familia.

Barcelona’s Port Vell and the Olympic Stadium

Port Vell is the oldest area of the Port of Barcelona which underwent massive renovation in the early 1990s before Barcelona hosted the 1992 Olympic Games. A landmark of Port Vell is the Barcelona Colum Monument – a column reaching 60 meters into the sky with a statue of Christopher Columbus on top pointing proudly out to sea. A trip to the top provides astounding views of the city.

The Olympic Stadium was originally built in 1927 for the 1929 International Exposition and was intended to host the People’s Olympiad in 1936 as a protest against the 1936 Olympic Games held in Berlin, but Spanish Civil War broke out and thwarted that plan.

For the 1992 Olympics it underwent massive renovation with the help of an Italian architect and in 2001 was renamed, Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys after a former president of the Generalitat de Catalunya who was executed during the Franco regime.

 

The Calatrava Tower is a symbol of the 1992 Olympic Games and can be seen from all over Barcelona. It was built to transmit television coverage of the Olympic games and is named after its creator.