Barcelona's Gothic Cathedral-the main Cathedral in the city. Building work on it was started at the end of 13th century and continued on for 600 years until the end of 19th century when the facade was finally completed. The temple has 3 ribbed vaults and is flanked by 2 elegant octagonal towers. Magnolia, medlar, palm and orange trees grow in the adjoining cloister and these elements, along with the chapels, the murmur of the fountain with real geese and the flagstones, green with age, combine to create a magical, almost unreal atmosphere.

The Sagrada Familia- Barcelona's second cathedral-is a structure of uncommon dimensions. Conceived in the form of a Latin cross with 5 naves, 3 facades, an apse and a transept, the temple is famous for its slender towers, which soar nearly one hundred metres over the building and are crowned by ceramic pinnacles. A monumental cupola, nearly one hundred and seventy metres high, figures among the parts of the church still to be completed and this dome will become the most outstanding feature of this colossal architectural creation.

Its architect Gaudi was 31 years old when he accepted the comission to build the Sagrada Familia and spent the rest of his life (he died at the ge of 74) bound to this work which progressed discontinuously, much as it does today, totally dependant on the availability of funds.