Spain - Colònia Güell, Church

Eusebi Güell - important industrialist - ordered in 1898 architect Antoni Gaudi to design a church for a colony - Colònia Güell - at his estate in the municipality of Santa Coloma de Cervelló.

Gaudi did a lot of studies before the building work started in 1908. The ambitious plan for a huge church with two naves (upper and lower), completed with lateral turrets and a dome of 40 metres high, remained unfinished.
In 1914 Gaudi heard that the Güell family would no longer fund the building and Gaudi abandoned the project.
One year later the lower nave was blessed by the bishop of Barcelona, which led to a church known as ‘the crypt’. Between 1915 and 1917 the upper nave was closed with brick walls and a roof.

The church - although unfinished - is commonly considered to be one of Gaudi’s masterpieces. All his architectural innovations are combined in this beautiful building.