A guide to La Sagrada Familia Passion Façade
The Sagrada Familia church is the most visited monument in Spain and Antoni Gaudi’s masterpiece. In his life the architect managed to leave one of the church sides, the Nativity Façade, almost completed. The opposite side, the Passion Façade was finished a few decades ago, and the last one and main entrance, the Glory Façade is still not even started.
While the Nativity Facade looks more traditional and warm and pleasing, the Passion Façade is sharp and dark and it generates mixed reactions among the visitors. Some reject it vehemently, finding it dark and disagreeing with its dramatic contemporary style. Instead, others find it fascinating and intriguing. I personally find that the more I know about it, the more I like it. And that in my Sagrada Familia tours, even the people who dislike it at first end up accepting it when they get to understand why it’s meant to be the way it is. So let me share my expertise with you, so you can take the most of your visit experience as well!
Brief history of the Passion Façade
Antoni Gaudi left a few sketches of what the Passion Façade was meant to look like. At the time he worked on the concept he fell sick and was on the brink of death, and his personal experience led him to decide that the side of the church that described the death of Jesus will have to make people connect with the idea of death: void, despair and darkness. However, the architect passes away in 1926, and it’s not going to be until 1954 that the construction of the Passion Façade will start, under the orders of the chief architect Francesc Quintana who laid out the foundations of it.
In the 1970’s the works continued to progress, with the construction of the 4 towers, built under the direction of the architects Isidre Puig Boada and Lluís Bonet Garí. The son of Lluís Bonet, Jordi Bonet i Armengol, was the current chief architect when the sculptor Josep Maria Subirachs was chosen in 1986 to design the sculptures that would decorate the Passion Façade.
Subirachs requested to move into his workshop in the church, to be in close contact with it the same way Gaudi did during the last months of his life. His first sculpture was produced in 1987, and more sets of sculptures were added in the following years, creating a big uproar, as the local society was not ready for such a modern interpretation of the last days of Jesus. Despite the controversy, however, Subirachs continued to deliver the rest of the sculptural ensembles and he also designed the bronze gates that give access to the inside of the church. His last sculpture was the Resurrecting Christ that hangs between the two central towers, set up in 2005, 11 years before he died of old age.
The construction of the façade continued with the 18 columns of the upper colonnade (2014-2016, right on top of the portico), whose complexity had posed many challenges to the architects team. They were soon flanked by the sculptures of the Lion of Judah and the Lamb of Abraham, by the artist Lau Feliu, and under the arcade were placed the Three Maries in the empty sepulcher. The Façade was completed in 2015 when the monumental cross was set up on top of the colonnade.
View of the Passion Façade
The Passion Façade is monumental, and while some details need to be seen from as close as possible, most of them can be seen from the street. Before we move on to describe each element, I want you to get to see how it looks, so you can follow my explanations with ease. Feel free to play around with the zoom and move the image to see the details.
Understanding the Sagrada Familia Passion Façade sculptures
1
The Lower Level
THE LAST SUPPER
JM Subirachs structured the story of the last 3 days of Jesus to be read from the bottom up, starting from the left and ascending in zig-zag, on an "S" shape. And the story starts on the bottom left side of the façade with the sculptures of the Last Supper. Unlike other artists, Subirachs choses to place Jesus giving us his back, rather than giving him a central position as it's traditional.That forces us to focus on the sad faces of the Apostles receiving the news that one of them will betray Him tonight. Judas seats on the furthest end of the table, holding some coins in his fist – he’s already been paid to hand his master to the authorities. And a skinny dog sleeps at his feet, symbol of a loyalty that is weak and absent.
AT THE GETSEMANI GARDEN
The story continues with Jesus being betrayed at the Garden of Getsemani. Three Roman soldiers hide around the corner waiting to arrest Jesus, while Peter lies next to a tree stumb. To the right, Judas is kissing hello to Jesus - signaling who is the one the soldiers need to arrest, and with this, he is betraying his master. Subirachs places a misterious square filled with numbers next to these two characters:
It is a cryptogram or magical square, based on one created by the Renaissance painter Albrecht Dürer. In the version by Subirachs, if you sum up the numbers in any direction the result is always 33, the age of Jesus when he died (in Dürer’s version it’s 34). A snake behind Judas is another symbol of betrayal.
THE FLAGELATION
The next sculpture breaks the continuity of the story due to an aesthetic choice. Subirachs chooses to place the moment when Jesus is beeing whipped in a central spot, between the main gates of the façade. The sculpture solitary and vertical, makes an efficient use of the space and maintains the visual balance of the whole ensemble.It’s also the only sculpture that people can touch and see from close, as it stands only 3 steps over the ground level, as opposed as the rest of the sculptures which stand in higher pedestals. That somehow brings Jesus’ suffering closer to us. The three steps symbolize the three days Jesus took to resurrect. The column he is tied to is broken, representing that with Jesus death there’s a break between the Old and the New testament. A textured knot represents the psychological suffering of being tortured, while a cane lying on the steps represents the physical pain. There’s also a real fossil of a palm tree – but if you are curious about that you’ll have to take one of my tours to learn more about it.
THE GATES
JM Subirachs also designed the bronze doors that lead to the inside of the church in the Passion Façade. The two central ones are the texts of the Gospels by Matthew and John about the last three days of the life of Jesus, in their Catalan version. The letters hide a myriad of symbols related to the story represented here: coins, cryptograms, skulls... The artist decided to highlight in gold color some words that he considered key.
THE THREE DENIALS
Following the arrest of Jesus, the apostles disperse and run away. Just as He had foreseen during the Last Supper, three times St. Peter is stopped by someone asking him if he was a friend of the One who had been arrested. And three times Peter denies knowing him. The rooster crows at the third denial, and Peter then realizes that he has just done what he thought he’d never do: betraying his master.
IN FRONT OF PONTIUS PILATE
This part of the story starts actually around the corner from St. Peter: you’ll see there, to the left of the side door a depiction of a maze. It symbolizes that the night that has started for Jesus is going to feel like a path that he can’t get out from.
But this is a quite complex sculptural ensemble, that includes two more scenes. The most detailed one, next to the side door, shows us Jesus with his hands tied up and surrounded by two Roman soldiers, while an afflicted Pontius Pilate seats adopting the posture of the Thinker. He is trying to decide what to do with this man that people wants killed even if he doesn't think even if he thinks that the punishment is disproportionate. Behind Pilate stands a column with an eagle perched on top: it symbolizes the Roman Empire
The column visually separates this scene from the one that follows to the right. You’ll have to walk around the wall to see Pilate, who is now standing and symbolically washes his hands to signify that he is not responsible for the choice of the others around him.
2
The Middle Level
JESUS FALLS CARRYING THE CROSS
As we mentioned at the beginning, the sculptures of the Passion Façade need to be read in zig-zag. So the story continues right on top of Pilate, and we'll be now reading it right to left instead. Jesus is made to carry the Cross where he'll be crucified, up the hill while people surround him as if it was a show. The cross is heavy, and he falls thrice while carrying it.The first scene to the right represents the first fall. Jesus is lying on the floor in front of two horrified people, and Simon of Cyrene is made to help him carry the cross.
THE SECOND FALL
Jesus is said to have fallen three times in total during the Via Crucis, but due to lack of space (and probably also to not repeat himself too much), the third fall is omitted in the story of the Sagrada Familia Passion Façade. You do see, though, a second fall, where Jesus is kneeling with the cross over his shoulder. A group of people surround him.
THE VERONICA
A legend says that a lady approached Jesus to wipe his sweat with a cloth, and by miracle His face got printed on the cloth. That is a story that has been passed mouth to ear - you won't find it in the Gospels. The lady has been called "Veronica", which is now a lady name but it's likely to come from Latin and Old Greek as "Vera Icon" means "the true image" (of Jesus).
Subirachs gives her a place of honor, standing in the heart of the façade. A woman without face (because we don’t know who she was or if she ever existed), shows us the True Image of Jesus on the cloth. It’s the only face of Jesus that Subirachs depicts in detail in the entire façade. And he uses the technique of the negative to create an optical effect that makes us feel that His eyes are always looking at us, even when we walk.
A TRIBUTE TO GAUDI
To the left of the Veronica, Subirachs takes a break from the story to pay tribute to Antoni Gaudi, the creator of the Sagrada Familia. An old man kneels as he looks at the image of Jesus displayed by Veronica, possibly representing humankind. However, the face of this man is none other than a portrait of Antoni Gaudi. For that Subirachs used one of the last pictures that were taken from him just two years before he died.
Gaudi was known to not like cameras much and he often hide away from them, but in this case he was too absort participating in a religious cerimony during Corpus Domini and he didn’t realized a photographer was around. You’ll recognize the same beard, same squared head, same deep sight and body posture as in the picture. Behind him stand three Roman soldiers shaped after the chimneys of Gaudi’s La Pedrera.
THE LONGINUS
The last scene in the middle level, the one on the left side, represents a knight on a horse. And before you can even ask: No, it's not an out-of-place Quijote (you may be facepalming yourself now, but it's not the first time I've been asked...). Right after Jesus was put on the cross, a Roman centurion arrived on his horse, and with his lance he pierced Jesus's side.While the official Gospels don’t mention his name, the apocryphal Gospel of Nicodemus identifies him as certain Longinus that eventually would convert to Christianity and die in martyrdom. Due to space constrictions, Subirachs chose to skip the cross and the body of Jesus and have Longinus pierce the actual stone of the wall of the church, which is a highly symbolic action anyway.
3
The Upper Level
SOLDIERS GAMBLING
We'll continue now reading the story starting from the group right over Longinus and heading then left. Apparently, Jesus was crucified naked and the soldiers who had done the job divided his garments among themselves. They then cast lots to decide who kept each piece. Here Subirachs shows us three soldiers gambling around a table that looks like one of the knucklebones that they used to gamble.
THE CALVARY
The central top part of the sculptures under the portico is reserved to the Calvary. Jesus hangs from the cross, that Subirachs choses to represent with two horizontal metal beams hovering over the scene, for a more striking perspective.
THE BURIAL
The last scene of sculptures in this level, the one to the right, represents Jesus being buried. His body is taken to the sepulcher, and Joseph of Arimathea and a Jew member of the Sanhedrin deposit Him there. The Virgin Mary, that Subirachs identifies with an egg (ancient symbol of life and motherhood) floating over her, is also present.
Many believe that the sculpture of Joseph of Arimathea could actually be a self-portrait of JM Subirachs. Actually, the sculpture wears a hairstyle that resembles that of the artist. And their features are somehow alike. Besides, Subirachs was also called Joseph (Josep Maria Subirachs). And if you look closely to the carvings on the stone that represent the veil covering Jesus's body, you'll be able to see something that looks like an S near Joseph of Arimathea's hand. Maybe the S for Subirachs? In his life he never confirmed nor denied it...
4
The Colonnade
The 18 columns of the colonnade over the porch are made out of granite, which creates a noticeable change of color that mimics the color of bones. The colonnade is also covered by a small roof, in which border one can read “Iesus Nazarenus Rex Iodorum” – Jesus of Natzaret, King of the Jews, the text of the note that the Roman pinned to the cross to mock Him.
LION AND LAMB
THE EMPTY SEPULCHRE
Under the roof of the colonnade hides the scene of the Empty Sepulchre, by the artist Francesc Fajula. Unfortunately, it’s too high up and in the shadows to be able to appreciate it much from the street or even from inside when you are visiting. It represents the moment when the Three Maries arrive to the sepulchre to find it empty, and an angel announces them that JesusChrist has resurrected.
The background of the scene is the rose window of the Resurrection, by stained-glass maker Joan Vilagrau. However, don't expect to notice it from the outside either: rose-windows by definition only look pretty from inside, because that's from where you can see the sun rays filtering through them. If you are visiting the inside, you'll easily recognize it as the oval stained glass that is mostly white in the center, with warm colors that seem to spin around it.
The artist decided to represent the moment of Jesus Christ’s resurrection as an explosion of light and color, because we certainly don’t know how it happen: the Gospels only mention that the Three Maries saw light coming out of the Sepulcher as they approached it.
THE SECRET GARDEN
According to the Gospels, the Sepulcher was located near the Golgota mountain, in a garden area. This garden has been also included in the Passion Façade as a small green area right behind the colonnade. Unfortunately, the garden is not accessible to the public and remains hidden from the view.
THE CROSS
The colonnade is crowned by a gigantic cross measuring 7.5m / 25.6ft. At the feet of the cross there's three angels, by sculptor Lau Feliu. One looks up in reverence, another strokes the cross, and the last one rises a chalice full of the blood of Christ. In order to see this set of sculptures you need to look from a certain distance, and even then the details aren't very clear.5
The sculptures on the towers
4 APOSTLES
If you have read this post in our blog, you already know that each of the towers in Sagrada Familia is dedicated to a different Catholic character. And the towers over the façades represent the apostles. Each tower features a sculpture of its Apostle with its name. Those in the Nativity Façade are harder to spot because that façade is so full of ornaments. But those in the Passion Façade are quite visible.
They are, from left to right: James the Less (Iacobus in Latin), Bartholomew (Bartholomaeus – you might have trouble reading it because in order to keep a visual balance some letters overlap), Thomas and Philip (Philippus). They were also created by JM Subirachs.
JESUS ASCENDING TO HEAVEN
Finally, there's a sculpture attached to the bridge that connects the central towers. It is Jesus Ascending to Heaven. It was the last sculpture Subirachs made for the Passion Façade. It is made in bronze and covered with a gold plate, that evokes the idea of light.How to visit the Passion Façade
6
The ground level
Despite being a church, accessing the Basilica of the Sagrada Familia isn’t free. You must pay an admission that can currently only be purchased online, as they eliminated their brick and mortar ticket offices several years ago. The cost of the tickets goes to finance the construction of the church (and it also deletes some of your sins, since that’s the goal of an expiatory church, and Sagrada Familia is one). The tickets sell out days and sometimes weeks in advance, so make sure to get them as soon as you purchase your flight tickets or make your hotel reservations.
The admission will allow you not only to see the sculptures from closer, but also to go inside the nave – and that is something you shouldn’t miss. The view of the columns and the stained glasses that create the effect of a stone forest is mesmerizing. Entering for the first time is a very emotional moment, and I’ve even seen people cry.
But if you weren’t fast enough to secure tickets, you can at least still see the sculptures from the street well enough. My recommendation is to look at it from across the street, because the fence surrounding the church is made of a quite thick mesh that makes it difficult to see from the other site. Instead, from across the street you can see directly over the fence.
7
The Towers
It is possible to go up two of the towers on the Passion Façade: those of Thomas and Phillip (the ones on the right of the façade). They require a special ticket that includes both access to the church and to the Passion Towers. If you made a mistake and only purchased tickets for the Basilica but not for the towers sometimes you can add the towers once you are inside the church, by heading to the Information Point and paying the price difference. But don’t rely on it: securing tickets for the towers is almost a miracle because they also typically sell out for most time frames.
To visit the towers you’ll first get in the line for the elevator, located in the naves, on a corner next to the doors that connect the Passion façade with the inside of the church. Mind that there’s an atrium or corridor between the outside and the actual inside: the access to the towers is INSIDE the naves, not in the atrium. A hostess will scan your ticket and tell you to leave your belongings in the lockers if you are carrying a large purse or a backpack. The lockers work with coins, but the hostesses have tokens if you don’t have change.
Small purses are fine, and you can definitely bring your phone, camera and water. The lines move relatively fast, but depending on the day it can take from 5 to 20 minutes to reach the elevator. Inside the lift a hostess will explain the itinerary you must follow. From the exit of the elevator you’ll go up some 20 steps to a viewing platform at the top of Phillip’s tower, and from there get to Thomas’s tower through a small bridge. Here starts the descent that must be done on foot (unless you get sick, in which case there’s emergency phones along the way so they can come and get you to the elevator).
The descent is some 400 steps. Soon after you start going downstairs you’ll reach another bridge: the one connecting with the other two towers, where the sculpture of Jesus Ascending To Heaven is attached. It’s a great viewing point, but you won’t be able to enter the other two towers from here: they are off bounds because the city council keeps a falcons nest there to manage the pigeon population and promote urban biodiversity.
After leaving the bridge and continuing the descent, there’s a point when the stairs divide into two different stairs: never mind, they both take to the same place: just pick one and keep going. Until here, the stairs will have been narrow and surrounded by walls in both sides, right and left. But when you reach the final section, the structure of the stairs changes and becomes a spiral stair that has a wall only to your left, but there’s no wall on the right, and you can look down the hole. It might be scary, but there’s a railing on the wall and it’s really only the last 2 minutes. Make sure to take a picture of the shape of the spiral stair before you leave!
8
So... Passion Façade or Nativity Façade?
Hum… that is really a personal decision. First of all, if you are staying in the ground level, you have the opportunity to see both the Nativity and the Passion Façade no matter if you are paying to go in or not. But if your question is about which are most fun to climb, here is a comparison you might find useful to make your decision. Because no, there’s no combined ticket that allows you to climb both on the same visit: you need to choose either one or the other:
| NATIVITY | PASSION | |
|---|---|---|
| WAY UP | Elevator | Elevator |
| WAY DOWN | Stairs | Stairs |
| VIEW POINTS | Tree Bridge | Phillip Tower, Ascension Bridge |
| VIEWS | Olympic Village Towers, Glories Tower (AGBAR), Poblenou District | Olympic Village Towers, Glories Tower (AGBAR), Poblenou District, Montjuic, Old Town, Port Vell |
| MAXIMUM VISITABLE HEIGHT | 60 meters / 196 ft | 90 meters / 295 ft |
| DECADE OF CONSTRUCTION | 1920's | 1960's |
Passion Façade FAQ
When was the Passion Façade built?
The Passion Façade was started in 1954 with the layout of the foundations. The towers were crowned in the 1970’s but the façade wasn’t considered completed until 2015 with the set up of the giant cross over the portico.
Who designed the sculptures of the Façade?
The sculptor Josep Maria Subirachs is the creator of most of the sculptures in the Façade of the Passion. There’s also minor works by Lau Feliu and Francesc Fajula.
What does the Passion Façade represent?
The Passion Façade represents the last three days of the life of Jesus and it’s meant to express the feelings of death: sadness, pain and darkness.
Do I need tickets to visit the Passion Façade?
While you can see the sculptures relatively well from the street, the best way to see them is by paying to go inside the Sagrada Familia church. If you wish to enter the towers you need a special ticket that includes them as well.
What is your favorite element of the Sagrada Familia Passion Façade?
Marta
Marta is the founder of ForeverBarcelona. She is a passionate tour guide that loves Barcelona and loves writing too. She is the main author of our Blog, and is committed to sharing her knowledge about Barcelona and her best tips with our readers.
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