Discover Gaudí

Antoni Gaudí (1852-1926) spent almost his entire life working in Barcelona, and he left behind seven buildings throughout the city that UNESCO recognized as a World Heritage Site. These buildings are not alike: the Sagrada Família is a basilica that has been under construction for over 140 years, Casa Batlló looks as if it came from a fairytale, and Park Güell initially started as a luxury development that no one wanted to buy. What they have in common is a way of building that defied almost all the conventions of its time.

And 2026 is undoubtedly the best time to explore his work. June 10th marked the centenary of his death, and, coincidentally, the exterior of the central tower of the Sagrada Família had been completed just a few months prior. Furthermore, Barcelona is the World Capital of Architecture this year, a title awarded by UNESCO and the International Union of Architects. We'll delve into this further below.

If you're visiting Barcelona for the first time, there are four main attractions that draw the vast majority of visitors. It's a good idea to know what you're going to see at each one before you book, because they require different amounts of time and different types of tickets.

The Sagrada Família is the work that Gaudí did not live to see completed, and to which he dedicated his last 43 years. Since October 27, 2025, it has been the tallest church in the world, surpassing the 161.53 meters of the Ulm Minster; on February 20, 2026, the last piece of the cross was placed, and the tower of Jesus Christ reached its final height of 172.5 meters. Inside, the columns branch out like trees, and the light enters, tinted by hundreds of stained glass windows. Here, we tell you its history, its architecture, and how to get tickets.

Here's a common misunderstanding that appears in almost all guides. It's often read that "the Sagrada Familia is a World Heritage Site," which is not entirely accurate. The site is called "Works of Antoni Gaudí", it has number 320 on the UNESCO list, and it consists of seven components. Only the crypt and the Nativity façade of the Sagrada Familia are listed, which are the parts that Gaudí built with his own hands. The towers completed in this century, including the one of Jesus Christ, are outside the protected area.

The list has another peculiarity that is worth noting: it does not match the list of buildings that can be visited. The Torre Bellesguard can be visited, but it is not listed. The Palau Güell has been listed since 1984, and of the seven, it is the one that receives the fewest visitors. If you are looking for the stamp, this is the list; if you are looking for what to see, the list is different.

Those four names don't tell the whole story. Gaudí left other works in Barcelona that are less crowded and have a cheaper entrance fee. The Casa Vicens, in the Gràcia neighborhood, was his first important house and wasn't opened to the public until 2017. The Palau Güell, near Las Ramblas, is where he learned to play with light and to finish the chimneys with colored ceramics. There's also the Torre Bellesguard, with a nearly medieval feel, built on the ruins of a royal castle, and the crypt of the Colònia Güell, the laboratory where he tested the solutions he would later use in the Sagrada Família. We review them in more Gaudí works in Barcelona.

If you're traveling on a tight budget, there's quite a lot of Gaudí you can see for free from the street: the lampposts he designed for Plaça Reial, the dragon gate of the Pavellons de la Finca Güell, or the façades on Passeig de Gràcia. We've gathered them in the hidden Gaudí guide.

It's hard to imagine Gaudí working far from Barcelona, but he did. In Comillas (Cantabria), he built El Capricho, a summer house covered in ceramic sunflowers. In León, he constructed the Casa Botines, now a museum, and in Astorga, the Palacio Episcopal, which looks more like a castle than a bishop's palace. These are three stops that form a little-traveled route through northern Spain, and we tell you about it in El Camino de Gaudí.

Gaudí wasn't just a decorator with good taste; he was a builder obsessed with geometry and with the way things stand upright. He studied bones, trees, and shells to solve structural problems, and he sought to have a building stand on its own form rather than supporting it with buttresses. He worked more with models than with blueprints, although blueprints existed: in fact, they burned in 1936. This way of thinking has a name and a period: Catalan Modernism, the local version of Art Nouveau. To understand it better, start with his biography, then explore the Gaudí method and his relationship with Catalan Modernism.

On June 7, 1926, a tram from line 30 struck Gaudí at the intersection of Gran Via and Bailèn. He died three days later, on June 10, and at first, no one recognized him: due to his worn clothing, he was mistaken for a beggar. A hundred years later, 2026 has become the Year of Gaudí, a designation given to it by the Generalitat de Catalunya.

The date coincided with two milestones. In February, the last piece of the cross on the tower of Jesus Christ was installed, and on June 10th, Pope Leo XIV presided over the solemn mass in the basilica and blessed the tower, which was illuminated for the first time that night. A year earlier, in April 2025, the Vatican had declared Gaudí venerable: this is the first step on the path to sainthood, and a recognized miracle is needed to move to the next stage. We have gathered the events and news on the centennial 1926-2026 page.

Before you book, here are four tips to avoid disappointment:

• Book your tickets for the Sagrada Familia and Casa Batlló well in advance, as they tend to sell out quickly.
• At Park Güell, entry is timed; if you arrive late, you will miss your designated time slot.
• The four major works are located throughout the city, but Casa Batlló and La Pedrera are situated close to each other, just a five-minute walk apart.
• If you only have one day, choose wisely: visiting both the Sagrada Familia and Park Güell together will take up an entire day, including travel time.

Depending on the number of days you have, we have prepared a Gaudí route that can be completed in 1, 2, or 3 days, and a guide to combined tickets and discounts so you don't overpay. All the practical information is available on our plan your visit page.