Barcelona, Spain

Fun Facts:

• There are 18 towers - 12 represent the apostles, 4 represent the evangelists, 1 is for the Virgin Mary and the tallest one in the center represents Jesus Christ
• A fire broke out in 1936, during the Spanish Civil War and destroyed Gaudi's plans and plaster models
• The legend has it that the craftsmen working on the church at the time remembered enough of the plans to continue work, and then passed that knowledge down to their sons and grandsons
• The construction has been funded solely on private donations and entrance fees collected
• The windows have all be created by Joan Vila-Grau
• Contrary to traditional Gothic style, the glass at the top of the windows is the most transparent, to better illuminate the mosaics and flecks of gold decorating the vaults.  The densest colors and richest iconography are at the bottom, closest to the faithful.
• Gaudi was interested in in a process called Trichromy for the stained glass windows, where 3 pieces of glass (yellow, cyan and magenta) are layered with a 4th transparent piece to create depth to the designs.  He tested this process out in the cathedral in Palma, Mallorca, but ultimately decided the windows should be leaded glass.
• The light inside the church varies dramatically depending on the time of day and time of year, as the rays illuminate the windows
• Gaudi's ultimate idea for the windows was to have “the light gliding over the windows like water over pebbles"