Insider tour of the Sagrada Familia reveals 5 divine enigmas and hidden treasures

Insider tour of the Sagrada Familia reveals 5 divine enigmas and hidden treasures 1 of 7 | The unique grandeur of the Sagrada Familia — the stone somehow carved to look lush as flora, the sandcastle-like spires, the color-flooded interior — means that even those who work and worship at Barcelona’s world famous basilica each and every day can still be surprised with some fresh wonder. (AP Video/Hernán Muñoz) 2 of 7 | A priest celebrates Mass in the crypt of Antoni Gaudí beneath the Sagrada Familia while crowds of visitors fill the basilica above in Barcelona, Spain, May 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti) 3 of 7 | Antoni Gaudí’s tomb is photographed inside crypt of Gaudí beneath the Sagrada Família as crowds of visitors fill the basilica above in Barcelona, Spain, May 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti) 4 of 7 | A detail of the Passion Façade shows the basilica’s famous magic square at the Sagrada Família 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.(AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti) 5 of 7 | 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. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti) 6 of 7 | 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. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti) 7 of 7 | A small square-shaped labyrinth is photographed at the Passion Façade at the basilica’s Sagrada Família in Barcelona, Spain, Spain, May 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti) 1 of 7 The unique grandeur of the Sagrada Familia — the stone somehow carved to look lush as flora, the sandcastle-like spires, the color-flooded interior — means that even those who work and worship at Barcelona’s world famous basilica each and every day can still be surprised with some fresh wonder. (AP Video/Hernán Muñoz) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share 2 of 7 | A priest celebrates Mass in the crypt of Antoni Gaudí beneath the Sagrada Familia while crowds of visitors fill the basilica above in Barcelona, Spain, May 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti) 2 of 7 A priest celebrates Mass in the crypt of Antoni Gaudí beneath the Sagrada Familia while crowds of visitors fill the basilica above in Barcelona, Spain, May 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share 3 of 7 | Antoni Gaudí’s tomb is photographed inside crypt of Gaudí beneath the Sagrada Família as crowds of visitors fill the basilica above in Barcelona, Spain, May 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti) 3 of 7 Antoni Gaudí’s tomb is photographed inside crypt of Gaudí beneath the Sagrada Família as crowds of visitors fill the basilica above in Barcelona, Spain, May 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share 4 of 7 | A detail of the Passion Façade shows the basilica’s famous magic square at the Sagrada Família 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.(AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti) 4 of 7 A detail of the Passion Façade shows the basilica’s famous magic square at the Sagrada Família 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.(AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share 5 of 7 | 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. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti) 5 of 7 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. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share 6 of 7 | 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. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti) 6 of 7 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. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share 7 of 7 | A small square-shaped labyrinth is photographed at the Passion Façade at the basilica’s Sagrada Família in Barcelona, Spain, Spain, May 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti) 7 of 7 A small square-shaped labyrinth is photographed at the Passion Façade at the basilica’s Sagrada Família in Barcelona, Spain, Spain, May 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share Updated [hour]:[minute] [AMPM] [timezone], [monthFull] [day], [year] Barcelona, Spain (AP) — 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’s world-famous landmark find themselves dumbstruck with wonder.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.“We say that one of the elements of the Sagrada Familia Basilica is that you never exhaust it,” Turull said. “I have spent the last eight years as its rector, and each day I discover something new.” 1. Enigmas are engraved in the façadesEach morning, Turull approaches the basilica’s elaborately decorated façades. 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.The westward-looking Façade of the Passion is stark, its figures tormented, their bodies strained in angular poses. That was how architect Antoni Gaudí wanted it — “harsh and cruel, as if made of bones,” to show the pain and torment of Christ’s final days.Decades after Gaudí’s own death, sculptor Josep Subirachs tempered the façade’s misery with some playful elements. There’s Gaudí 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? The “magic square” symbolizes the inevitability of Christ’s death; adding the numbers in any direction always produces 33, Jesus’s age at his crucifixion. A detail of the Passion Façade shows the basilica's famous magic square at the Sagrada Família 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.(AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti) A detail of the Passion Façade shows the basilica's famous magic square at the Sagrada Família 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.(AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share A small square-shaped labyrinth is photographed at the Passion Façade at the basilica's Sagrada Família in Barcelona, Spain, Spain, May 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti) A small square-shaped labyrinth is photographed at the Passion Façade at the basilica's Sagrada Família in Barcelona, Spain, Spain, May 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share 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. 2. The tower tops hold cornucopias and real birds of preyAfter celebrating Mass, Leo will step outside to offer a blessing for the Tower of Jesus Christ that made the Sagrada Familia the world’s tallest church when it was raised in October.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.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.Gaudí’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’s. The falcons have been breeding successfully at the basilica for over two decades.Turull said that these lightning-fast birds of prey “recover the cycle of natural life.” 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. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti) 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. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share 3. The tour goes underground to find Gaudí’s cryptFor 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 “spiritual heart.” That requires going through a modest side entrance and descending a staircase.Underground is a much smaller, more intimate chapel, where dozens of worshippers silently attend Mass and faith manages to keep sightseeing at bay.Fittingly, it is here where Gaudí, 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. A priest celebrates Mass in the crypt of Antoni Gaudí beneath the Sagrada Familia while crowds of visitors fill the basilica above in Barcelona, Spain, May 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti) A priest celebrates Mass in the crypt of Antoni Gaudí beneath the Sagrada Familia while crowds of visitors fill the basilica above in Barcelona, Spain, May 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share Antoni Gaudí's tomb is photographed inside crypt of Gaudí beneath the Sagrada Família as crowds of visitors fill the basilica above in Barcelona, Spain, May 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti) Antoni Gaudí's tomb is photographed inside crypt of Gaudí beneath the Sagrada Família as crowds of visitors fill the basilica above in Barcelona, Spain, May 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share “People come to ask for his intercession,” Turull said, gesturing to the tomb interred in the floor. “That’s 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 Gaudí.”The Vatican is in the midst of a decades-long process that could eventually make Gaudí a saint. After Pope Francis named Gaudí “venerable” 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.The basilica has proposed that the pope pray at Gaudí’s tomb during his visit, but whether he does remains to be seen. 4. A seashell for holy waterBefore ascending, Turull pauses at an enormous seashell — a real one, not made of stone — that serves as a basin for holy water. He said that Gaudí had the seashell from the Philippines set in wrought iron and fixed to the column.“Gaudí always takes nature as an example,” Turull said, referencing the way the natural world inspired his designs and decorations. 5. A changing room fit for a popeUp a twisting staircase, a private room bathed in sunlight houses two freestanding oak cabinets laced with intricate ironwork. Designed by Gaudí, they hold the basilica’s most precious relics and most important clerical clothing. Among them is Pope Benedict XVI’s chasuble — a cloak that clergy wear when celebrating Mass — from when he consecrated the Sagrada Familia in 2010.This is where Pope Leo will change into a chasuble that is being sewn at a workshop just for this occasion.Turull said the vestment will feature details symbolizing the day’s 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. 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. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti) 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. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share ___AP videojournalist Hernán Muñoz contributed to this report. Wilson covers Spanish news and sports for The Associated Press. He is based in Barcelona.