Another Gaudi church – built before La Sagrada Familia

the soaring ceilings in the crypt of another church built by gaudi - today used as a main church
By / April 19, 2018 / budget slow travel

Last Updated on May 27, 2023 by Ellen

There’s another Gaudi church that was built before the famous La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona. Antoni Gaudi designed the church near the city in a place called Colonia Guell. We took a side trip to see this fun place, and we encountered few tourists.

Colonia Guell is about a 25-minute train ride from the center of the city, named after industrialist Eusebi Guell. In the late 19th century, he moved his business out of Barcelona because of civil unrest. He built his textile complex at Colonia Guell. And he commissioned Antoni Gaudi to build a church.

The building is a much smaller scale of the massive La Sagrada Familia. Still, it is clear Gaudi tested some of his ideas that would later be used in Barcelona.

Gaudi never finished the church outside Barcelona.

There was conflicting reason as to why Guell cut off the funding. Nonetheless, this is another Gaudi church unfinished – just liek La Sagrada Familia.

Only the crypt is completed. The modern community uses this area as its church. The unfinished terrace was actually supposed to be the church floor.

Here are photos we took from our little trip. See if you can spot the classic Gaudi features.

  • another church gaudi built in Colonia Guell that shows columns that look like trees, similar to la sagrada familia in barcelona
  • another church gaudi built shows archways similar to those found in la sagrada familia
  • strange stained glass windows surrounded by bits of cut-glass in the facade of another church built by architect antoni gaudi
  • the side of another church built by gaudi
  • the soaring ceilings in the crypt of another church built by gaudi - today used as a main church
  • a closer look at the soaring ceiling and tree-like pillars inside another church built by gaudi before la sagrada familia
  • stained glass colors light in another church built by gaudi, similar to how stained glass is used in la sagrada familia
  • the wooden pews inside another church built by gaudi
  • another view of the inside of a church built by antoni gaudi in Colonia Guell
  • a stand that holds holy water that looks like a giant shell, in another church built by gaudi
  • a closeup of the wooden pews
  • a small tower with a bell at the unfinished level of another church built by gaudi
  • a woman stands in the rain on the main floor of what gaudi intented to be the main church, but he never finished construction
  • a wide shot of an unfinished area of another church built by gaudi

This was a good way to spend a a couple of hours outside Barcelona, away from throngs of tourists. The day we went to see the first church Gaudi built, there were hardly any other tourists, perhaps because it was lightly raining.

There is an audio guide that explains the history of this other Gaudi church.

Aside from another Gaudi church…

Tourists can also walk around the village with the audio guide to view other buildings of note by other architects.

Don’t miss the videos inside the exhibition at the information center where you get the audio equipment. Former workers describe their lives inside the factories. The videos are well done.

Round-trip train tickets and the audio tour cost just under $19 for two people. We bought our tickets at the kiosk in the Renfe station at Placa de Espanya. There are attendants around the machines if you have questions or need help.

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