A leisurely scroll through the architecture of Barcelona -- PART 3

Now we get to the big dog in the house, if you've ever visited Barcelona you probably think of this guy's name right away. Of the three architects mentioned in PART 1 and PART 2 he is definitely the most famous! (hint: check out part 1 and part 2)

He is none other than the magnificent, Antoni Gaudí. In stark contrast to the very political Joe PC and Lluís DM Gaudí was a man of three principal virtues: nature, architecture and God. His most famous and important work was the Basilica i Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Familia.

This was/is Gaudí's masterpiece, however, you can probably tell by the cranes everywhere it's not finished yet, it has been under construction since 1882, 136 years, and they don't plan to have it done for almost another 10 years!

Let's go back a little bit though, when our architectural genius was just starting out his work caught the eye of one Eusebi Güell, a catalan entrepreneur who would end up being a lifelong friend and patron of Gaudí. The most famous collaboration between the two is the Park Güell built in 1914 located in the northern suburb of Gràcia in Barcelona.

Gaudí however was not much of a social butterfly, he was passionate about his work he avoided the spotlight as much as possible and in his later days stopped taking care of himself, from 1914 onward he lived and breathed solely for the Sagrada Familia until his death in 1926.

Gaudí's death is not a great one, he was out for a stroll one day, on his way actually to church, when he was hit by a tram and knocked unconscious, he was dressed so shabby that he was mistook for a drunk homeless man and it wasn't until hours later he was picked up by police and sent to the hospital but it wasn't even until the next day that they realized it was THE Antoni Gaudí but not even that could change the fact that his time was up, he died the next day, June 10 at the age of 73.

Gaudí's legacy lives on as seven of his works are declared UNESCO world heritage sites and millions of tourists visit his work every year in the city.