The company owned the village. Residents slaved in the textile factory, Huddled in Communitat, a social, industrial haven for the soul. They shared a workplace, Housing, amenities made by modernista architects. All that was missing was A church.
Gaudi stepped in in 1898 and conceived his elaborate construction. Perennially distracted, he finished only the crypt. A keystone project that synthesized politics, nature and faith. Abandoned, in flagrante, in 1914.
The portico forms a forest of leaning columns. Convex vaults shoot from polygonal arches. Symbols, monograms, mosaic iconography adorn the rugged façade.
The Trinity dwells within the treasures of the crypt. A dove perches without. Alpha and Omega, beginning and end of a grand, operatic idea.
Workers bowed in worship, thanked God for their jobs, Gaudi for his art. No one sits there now. An empty sprawl of the spirit. Only ghosts settle in organic-shaped pews.