The ‘other Sagrada Familia’ is hidden in a town of just over 400 inhabitants

Gaudí’s Sagrada Familia, in Barcelona, ​​is one of the most visited tourist attractions each year in Spain; Not in vain is it an internationally recognized symbol. What is not so well known is that just an hour away there is a very charming mini version.

It is about the Sanctuary of the Virgin of Montserrat de Montferria town in the province of Tarragona with about 400 inhabitants.

Account Trends which dates back to the end of the 19th century, a time when the locals made a pilgrimage to Montserrat to give thanks to the Virgin after the grape harvest: “To avoid this 75 kilometer journey, the Jesuit Daniel Vives “The idea of ​​building a temple in his hometown got into his head.”

He did it with the help of his cousin, the architect and disciple of Gaudí Josep Maria Jujol, but it was difficult to finish it. The project began in 1925, but due to lack of financing, it was stopped a few years later.

During the Civil War, part of the structure was damaged and its restoration was not resumed until 1984. The temple was finally inaugurated in 1999.

“Following the modernist trail, Jujol wanted to establish a direct connection between the hermitage and the land, so he decided to opt for a texture that suggested the elements of the natural environment that surrounded it: the rounded shapes of the rocks of the Montserrat mountain“, they report on the website of Tourism of Catalonia.