What to see in Municipality Santa Coloma de Cervello

The Church of Colònia Güell is located in Santa Coloma de Cervello near Barcelona. It is an unfinished work of the famous Catalian architect Antoni Gaudi. The technique Gaudi used to design the church was to hang little bags of bird-shot from chains. Gravity would pull these bags downwards, giving even weight distribution and stretching the chains to form a model structure, thus showing him the shapes and angles his pillars would need to be. By using a mirror placed under the model, Gaudi could then see the model as it should look.

Accents:
The Porch
Surrounded by depressed banks, a habit in the Roman and Gothic countryside churches. The columns are made of terracotta bricks coated with very small recooked stones and concrete. The ceiling has a hyperbolic paraboloids structure, which was a first in architecture.

Entrance Mosaic
A complex composition of glass and ceramic (a frequent technique in Gaudi`s works) focuses on the monogram of Mary with references to the Holy Trinity and the cardinal virtues. On the very top a cross, symbol of Christ, is surrounded by flames.The background is decorated with plants and floral patterns.

Exterior Windows
These stained windows made of glass and ceramic, with floral patterns of various sizes and shapes, are framed at the exterior by ornamental mosaics representing religious symbols and protected by railings from recycled industrial material.

Pews
Gaudi was a pioneer in what will be later called the total design. The wooden pews, as well as all the furniture, were designed by Gaudi himself, which prove his mastery of the other applied arts.

A replica of his model for the crypt is in the Museum under the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona.