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A priest celebrates Mass in the crypt of Antoni Gaud\u00ed beneath the Sagrada Familia while crowds of visitors fill the basilica above in Barcelona, Spain, May 15, 2026.<\/p>\n
Emilio Morenatti\/AP Photo\/Emilio Morenatti<\/p>\n
Antoni Gaud\u00ed’s tomb is photographed inside crypt of Gaud\u00ed beneath the Sagrada Fam\u00edlia as crowds of visitors fill the basilica above in Barcelona, Spain, May 15, 2026.<\/p>\n
Emilio Morenatti\/AP Photo\/Emilio Morenatti<\/p>\n
A detail of the Passion Fa\u00e7ade shows the basilica’s famous magic square at the Sagrada Fam\u00edlia in Barcelona, Spain, May 15, 2026. Unlike a sudoku, every row, column and diagonal adds up to 33, symbolizing the age of Christ at his death.<\/p>\n
Emilio Morenatti\/AP Photo\/Emilio Morenatti<\/p>\n
Josep Maria Turull, rector of the Basilica of the Sagrada Familia, holds a cross-shaped relic beside cabinets containing some of the basilica’s most precious relics and liturgical vestments in Barcelona, May 15, 2026.<\/p>\n
Emilio Morenatti\/AP Photo\/Emilio Morenatti<\/p>\n
A changing room where Pope Leo XIV will vest before presiding over Mass is seen at the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, Spain, May 15, 2026.<\/p>\n
Emilio Morenatti\/AP Photo\/Emilio Morenatti<\/p>\n
A small square-shaped labyrinth is photographed at the Passion Fa\u00e7ade at the basilica’s Sagrada Fam\u00edlia in Barcelona, Spain, Spain, May 15, 2026.<\/p>\n
Emilio Morenatti\/AP Photo\/Emilio Morenatti<\/p>\n
BARCELONA, Spain (AP) \u2014 The Sagrada Familia basilica features sandcastle-like spires, stone carved to look like lush flora, a kaleidoscopic interior and a trove of treasures, some hiding in plain sight. Even regular worshippers at Barcelona\u2019s world-famous landmark find themselves dumbstruck with wonder.<\/p>\n
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Josep Turull, the Catalan rector of the Sagrada Familia and the priest in charge of its parish activities, recently granted The Associated Press a private tour to show off his favorite gems ahead of Pope Leo XIV’s highly anticipated Mass on Wednesday night.<\/p>\n
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\u201cWe say that one of the elements of the Sagrada Familia Basilica is that you never exhaust it,\u201d Turull said. \u201cI have spent the last eight years as its rector, and each day I discover something new.\u201d<\/p>\n
1. Enigmas are engraved in the fa\u00e7ades<\/p>\n
Each morning, Turull approaches the basilica’s elaborately decorated fa\u00e7ades. They are packed with an abundance of religious scenes and symbols, some easy to interpret for anyone with a basic understanding of Christianity, while others are mysterious and even shocking to see in a church.<\/p>\n
The westward-looking Fa\u00e7ade of the Passion is stark, its figures tormented, their bodies strained in angular poses. That was how architect Antoni Gaud\u00ed wanted it \u2014 \u201charsh and cruel, as if made of bones,\u201d to show the pain and torment of Christ\u2019s final days.<\/p>\n
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Decades after Gaud\u00ed’s own death, sculptor Josep Subirachs tempered the fa\u00e7ade’s misery with some playful elements. There’s Gaud\u00ed himself, above the central door, staring across at Jesus carrying his cross to Calvary. And what’s that suduko-like numbered grid next to Judas kissing Jesus before his betrayal?<\/p>\n
The \u201cmagic square\u201d symbolizes the inevitability of Christ’s death; adding the numbers in any direction always produces 33, Jesus’s age at his crucifixion.<\/p>\n
Another puzzle awaits the patient eye that drifts across to the scene of Peter denying Christ: a small, square-shaped labyrinth. Turull said that it alludes to the need to keep faith in God when we feel lost.<\/p>\n
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2. The tower tops hold cornucopias and real birds of prey<\/p>\n
After celebrating Mass, Leo will step outside to offer a blessing for the Tower of Jesus Christ that made the Sagrada Familia the world\u2019s tallest church when it was raised in October.<\/p>\n
The basilica’s heights are bursting with nature, from the rooster who crowed while Peter denied Christ to reptiles doing the job of gargoyles, and piles of fruit that crown its spires.<\/p>\n
There are also flesh-and-blood beasts; a family of peregrine falcons nest in the tower dedicated to St. James, keeping away pigeons and, more importantly, their excrement.<\/p>\n
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Gaud\u00ed’s masterpiece was chosen as one of the ideal spots to reintroduce the species, as it was one of the last locations in town where these birds nested before disappearing during the 1970\u2019s. The falcons have been breeding successfully at the basilica for over two decades.<\/p>\n
Turull said that these lightning-fast birds of prey \u201crecover the cycle of natural life.\u201d<\/p>\n
3. The tour goes underground to find Gaud\u00ed’s crypt<\/p>\n
For the millions of annual visitors who admire the colored light filtering through the basilica’s stained-glass windows, jostle for position to snap selfies and huddle around tour guides, it is easy to overlook what Turull calls its \u201cspiritual heart.” That requires going through a modest side entrance and descending a staircase.<\/p>\n
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Underground is a much smaller, more intimate chapel, where dozens of worshippers silently attend Mass and faith manages to keep sightseeing at bay.<\/p>\n
Fittingly, it is here where Gaud\u00ed, a fervent Catholic, rests in a discreet tomb set inside a nook. He died exactly 100 years ago to the day when he was hit by a streetcar.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople come to ask for his intercession,\u201d Turull said, gesturing to the tomb interred in the floor. \u201cThat\u2019s why there are so many candles. Because people place their trust in him. Many people have received favors for having prayed at the tomb of Gaud\u00ed.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Vatican is in the midst of a decades-long process that could eventually make Gaud\u00ed a saint. After Pope Francis named Gaud\u00ed \u201cvenerable\u201d in 2025, the Vatican must now confirm a miracle attributed to his intercession for him to be beatified, then a second miracle for him to be canonized.<\/p>\n
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The basilica has proposed that the pope pray at Gaud\u00ed\u2019s tomb during his visit, but whether he does remains to be seen.<\/p>\n
4. A seashell for holy water<\/p>\n
Before ascending, Turull pauses at an enormous seashell \u2014 a real one, not made of stone \u2014 that serves as a basin for holy water. He said that Gaud\u00ed had the seashell from the Philippines set in wrought iron and fixed to the column.<\/p>\n
\u201cGaud\u00ed always takes nature as an example,\u201d Turull said, referencing the way the natural world inspired his designs and decorations.<\/p>\n
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5. A changing room fit for a pope<\/p>\n
Up a twisting staircase, a private room bathed in sunlight houses two freestanding oak cabinets laced with intricate ironwork. Designed by Gaud\u00ed, they hold the basilica\u2019s most precious relics and most important clerical clothing. Among them is Pope Benedict XVI’s chasuble \u2014 a cloak that clergy wear when celebrating Mass \u2014 from when he consecrated the Sagrada Familia in 2010.<\/p>\n
This is where Pope Leo will change into a chasuble that is being sewn at a workshop just for this occasion.<\/p>\n
Turull said the vestment will feature details symbolizing the day\u2019s importance and a design related to the basilica’s recently raised Cross of Jesus Christ. But he won’t say anything more for now; some things need to stay secret.<\/p>\n
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AP videojournalist Hern\u00e1n Mu\u00f1oz contributed to this report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A priest celebrates Mass in the crypt of Antoni Gaud\u00ed beneath the Sagrada Familia while crowds of visitors…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":330397,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[11989,118094,118093,23681,59373,90972,35762,59371,86159,86160,61262,118092,82,84,83,94077],"class_list":["post-330396","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-antonio","tag-barcelona","tag-josep-subirachs","tag-josep-turull","tag-package-100024-ap-online","tag-package-100373-mc-complete-state-national","tag-pope-francis","tag-pope-leo-xiv","tag-product-30598-ap-national-news-report-a-wire","tag-product-32502-ap-online-europe-news","tag-product-32509-ap-online-religion-columns","tag-product-46986-ap-online-top-stories","tag-sagrada-familia-insider-tour-pope-leo-gaudi-barcelona","tag-san-antonio","tag-san-antonio-headlines","tag-san-antonio-news","tag-vatican-city"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/330396","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=330396"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/330396\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/330397"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=330396"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=330396"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=330396"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}