The Temple Expiatori del Sagrat Cor (; ) is a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

church and

minor basilica Basilicas are Catholic church buildings that have a designation, conferring special privileges, given by the Pope. Basilicas are distinguished for ceremonial purposes from other churches. The building need not be a basilica in the architectura ...

located on the summit of Mount

Tibidabo Tibidabo () is a hill overlooking Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. At , it is the tallest hill in the Serra de Collserola. Rising sharply to the north-west, it has views over the city and the surrounding coastline. The summit of the hill is occupi ...

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

. The building is the work of the Catalan architect

Enric Sagnier Enric Sagnier i Villavecchia (; 1858 in Barcelona – 1931) was a Catalan architect. Although now not as well known as his contemporaries Antoni Gaudí, Lluís Domènech i Montaner and Josep Puig i Cadafalch, he was responsible for a numbe ...

and was completed by his son Josep Maria Sagnier i Vidal. The construction of the church, dedicated to the

Sacred Heart of Jesus The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus () is one of the most widely practised and well-known Catholic devotions, wherein the heart of Jesus Christ is viewed as a symbol of "God's boundless and passionate love for mankind". This devotion to Christ is p ...

, lasted from 1902 to 1961.

History

The idea of building a Catholic church on the summit of the Tibidabo emerged in the late 19th century amidst rumors about the construction of a

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

church and a hotel-casino at that location. This motivated a "Board of Catholic Knights" to acquire the ownership of the field and give it to Saint John Bosco in 1886, when he was visiting Barcelona at the invitation of Dorotea de Chopitea, a great

patron Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, art patronage refers to the support that princes, popes, and other wealthy and influential people ...

and promoter of the project. From this arose the idea of a building dedicated to the

, a dedication very popular at that time thanks to the impetus given by

Pope Leo XIII Pope Leo XIII (; born Gioacchino Vincenzo Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2March 181020July 1903) was head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 until his death in July 1903. He had the fourth-longest reign of any pope, behind those of Peter the Ap ...

, and following in line with the church built in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

by Bosco himself ( Sacro Cuore di Gesù a Castro Pretorio) and the famous Sacré-Cœur in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. In 1886 a

neo-Gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half of the 19th century ...

hermitage was built, and two years later, for the

Universal Exposition A world's fair, also known as a universal exhibition, is a large global exhibition designed to showcase the achievements of nations. These exhibitions vary in character and are held in different parts of the world at a specific site for a perio ...

, the Vallvidrera road was urbanized and a pavilion of Mudejar inspiration was built beside the hermitage to serve as a viewing point (for the city below). However, the project to build the church suffered a significant delay mainly because of the development of a new project to build an astronomical observatory on the summit of Tibidabo, which was eventually constructed on a nearby hill ( Fabra Observatory). Finally, on 28 December 1902, the first stone was placed in a ceremony presided by the

Bishop of Barcelona The Archdiocese of Barcelona () is a Latin metropolitan archbishopric of the Catholic Church in northeastern Spain's Catalonia region. The cathedral archiepiscopal see is a Minor basilica: Catedral Basílica Metropolitana de la Santa Creu i S ...

, Salvador Casañas i Pagès. The crypt was built between 1903 and 1911, and the main church was built between 1915 and 1951. The church was consecrated by Bishop Gregorio Modrego Casaus during the 35th Eucharistic Congress held in Barcelona in 1952. The towers were completed afterward, with work officially ending in 1961. On 29 October 1961 the church received the title of

from

Pope John XXIII Pope John XXIII (born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli; 25 November 18813 June 1963) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 28 October 1958 until his death on 3 June 1963. He is the most recent pope to take ...

Exterior

The external appearance of the church is of a Romanesque fortress of stone from

Montjuïc Montjuïc () is a hill in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Montjuïc or Montjuich, meaning "Jewish Mountain" in medieval Latin and Catalan, is a broad, shallow hill in Barcelona with a rich history. It was the birthplace of the city, and its st ...

(the crypt), topped by a monumental

church accessed by two grand outdoor stairways. The upper church has a central floor with an octagonal

dome A dome () is an architectural element similar to the hollow upper half of a sphere. There is significant overlap with the term cupola, which may also refer to a dome or a structure on top of a dome. The precise definition of a dome has been a m ...

on eight

column A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member ...

s. The dome is crowned with an image of the ''Sacred Heart''; the original work was by Frederic Marès (destroyed in 1936) and replaced in 1950 with another by Josep Miret. The upper church is square with three apses, a large central tower, and four lower towers marking the four corners of the square, and statues of the Twelve Apostles sculpted by Josep Miret. The main facade has three sections, the central wider, chaired by the figure of the Archangel Michael in the arch of the main entrance, and John Bosco in the

pediment Pediments are a form of gable in classical architecture, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the cornice (an elaborated lintel), or entablature if supported by columns.Summerson, 130 In an ...

above. Over the left door is the statue of

Teresa of Ávila Teresa of Ávila (born Teresa Sánchez de Cepeda Dávila y Ahumada; 28March 15154or 15October 1582), also called Saint Teresa of Jesus, was a Carmelite nun and prominent Spanish mystic and religious reformer. Active during the Counter-Re ...

and over the right, Marguerite Marie Alacoque. Above the door is an open gallery of arches with tracery. The façade of the crypt has a richly decorated tympanum with sculptures by Alfons Juyol i Bach following the design of Eusebi Arnau. The sculptures represent the Virgin of Mercy,

Saint George Saint George (;Geʽez: ጊዮርጊስ, , ka, გიორგი, , , died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was an early Christian martyr who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to holy tradition, he was a soldier in the ...

, and Saint James, the patron saints of

, and

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, respectively. The crypt facade consists of three

semicircular arch In architecture, a semicircular arch is an arch with an intrados (inner surface) shaped like a semicircle. This type of arch was adopted and very widely used by the Romans, thus becoming permanently associated with Roman architecture. Termino ...

es on columns, inserted under a larger semicircular arch, originally decorated with a

mosaic A mosaic () is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/Mortar (masonry), mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and ...

of the ''Holy Trinity'' by Daniel Zuloaga (destroyed in 1936). In 1955 it was redecorated by the Bru Workshop of Barcelona; the work depicts an

allegory As a List of narrative techniques, literary device or artistic form, an allegory is a wikt:narrative, narrative or visual representation in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a meaning with moral or political signi ...

of the devotion of Spain, represented by its patron saints.

Interior

The interior is divided into a nave and two aisles with semicircular apses, with

stained glass Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...

es and four

rose window Rose window is often used as a generic term applied to a circular window, but is especially used for those found in Gothic cathedrals and churches. The windows are divided into segments by stone mullions and tracery. The term ''rose window'' wa ...

s on the facades. In the main altar stands the great crucifix, a work by Joan Puigdollers. The windows of the presbytery are dedicated to

Pius X Pope Pius X (; born Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto; 2 June 1835 – 20 August 1914) was head of the Catholic Church from 4 August 1903 to his death in August 1914. Pius X is known for vigorously opposing Modernism in the Catholic Church, modern ...

John the Evangelist John the Evangelist ( – ) is the name traditionally given to the author of the Gospel of John. Christians have traditionally identified him with John the Apostle, John of Patmos, and John the Presbyter, although there is no consensus on how ...

, Marguerite Marie Alacoque,

Paul the Apostle Paul, also named Saul of Tarsus, commonly known as Paul the Apostle and Saint Paul, was a Apostles in the New Testament, Christian apostle ( AD) who spread the Ministry of Jesus, teachings of Jesus in the Christianity in the 1st century, first ...

and John Bosco. The left altar has five stained glasses dedicated to various Marian devotions: the Virgin of Antipolo (

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

), Our Lady of Luján (

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

), the

Assumption of Mary The Assumption of Mary is one of the four Catholic Mariology#Dogmatic teachings, Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church. Pope Pius XII defined it on 1 November 1950 in his apostolic constitution as follows: It leaves open the question of w ...

Our Lady of Guadalupe Our Lady of Guadalupe (), also known as the Virgin of Guadalupe (), is a Catholic title of the Blessed Virgin Mary associated with four Marian apparitions to Juan Diego and one to his uncle, Juan Bernardino reported in December 1531, when t ...

(

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

) and Our Lady of Charity (

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

). The right altar is presided by the ''Risen Jesus'', a work by Joan Puigdollers, and its stained glasses are dedicated to Spanish Marian devotions: the Virgin of Almudena (

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

), the

Virgin of Núria Virginity is a social construct that denotes the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. As it is not an objective term with an operational definition, social definitions of what constitutes virginity, or the lack thereof ...

(

), Our Lady of Hope, Our Lady of the Forsaken (

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

) and

Our Lady of Begoña Our or OUR may refer to: * The possessive form of " we" Places * Our (river) The Our (; , ) is a river in Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany. It is a left-hand tributary of the river Sauer, Sauer/Sûre. Its total length is . The source of the O ...

( Basque Country). The windows of the four towers contain the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

phrase ''tibi dabo'' ("I'll give you"), the name of the

mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher t ...

. At the level of the

choir A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

include founding saints:

Marcellin Champagnat Marcellin Joseph Benedict Champagnat, FMS (20 May 17896 June 1840) was a Catholic Church in France, French Catholic priest who founded of the Marist Brothers, a religious congregation of Religious brother, brothers devoted to Mary, mother of Jesu ...

and Jean-Baptiste de La Salle on both sides of the presbytery, and Anthony Mary Claret, Joseph Calasanctius,

John Bosco John Melchior Bosco, Salesians of Don Bosco, SDB (; ; 16 August 181531 January 1888), popularly known as Don Bosco or Dom Bosco (International Phonetic Alphabet, IPA: ), was an Italian Catholic priest, educator and writer. While working in Tu ...

and Maria Domenica Mazzarello next to the main facade. The windows of the four facades are dedicated to

Francis de Sales Francis de Sales, Congregation of the Oratory, C.O., Order of Minims, O.M. (; ; 21 August 156728 December 1622) was a Savoyard state, Savoyard Catholic prelate who served as Bishop of Geneva and is a saint of the Catholic Church. He became n ...

Pius XI Pope Pius XI (; born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti, ; 31 May 1857 – 10 February 1939) was head of the Catholic Church from 6 February 1922 until his death in February 1939. He was also the first sovereign of the Vatican City State u ...

Ignatius of Loyola Ignatius of Loyola ( ; ; ; ; born Íñigo López de Oñaz y Loyola; – 31 July 1556), venerated as Saint Ignatius of Loyola, was a Basque Spaniard Catholic priest and theologian, who, with six companions, founded the religious order of the S ...

, Francisco Javier,

Pius IX Pope Pius IX (; born Giovanni Maria Battista Pietro Pellegrino Isidoro Mastai-Ferretti; 13 May 1792 – 7 February 1878) was head of the Catholic Church from 1846 to 1878. His reign of nearly 32 years is the longest verified of any pope in hist ...

, Rose of Lima,

Leo XIII Pope Leo XIII (; born Gioacchino Vincenzo Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2March 181020July 1903) was head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 until his death in July 1903. He had the fourth-longest reign of any pope, behind those of Peter the A ...

and

Pius XII Pope Pius XII (; born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli; 2 March 18769 October 1958) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death on 9 October 1958. He is the most recent p ...

. The eight stained glasses of the

depict scenes from the life of Jesus.

Statue of Jesus

The church is crowned by the enormous bronze statue of the Sacred Heart made by Josep Miret in 1950. It replaced the original by Frederic Marès, which was made in 1935 and destroyed the following year as the Spanish Civil War began. The ascent from the crypt, passing through the church and ending at the sculpture, reflects the rise and the purification of the human condition by means of sacrifice and atonement.

Crypt

The crypt was designed in a

neo-Byzantine Neo-Byzantine architecture (also referred to as Byzantine Revival) was a Revivalism (architecture), revival movement, most frequently seen in religious, institutional and public buildings. It incorporates elements of the Byzantine architecture, ...

style, combining Gothic and classical elements, and decoration close to Modernisme. The space of the crypt consists of five

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

s separated by columns, the central one being wider, all with semicircular

apse In architecture, an apse (: apses; from Latin , 'arch, vault'; from Ancient Greek , , 'arch'; sometimes written apsis; : apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical Vault (architecture), vault or semi-dome, also known as an ' ...

s. The walls and vaults are lined with

alabaster Alabaster is a mineral and a soft Rock (geology), rock used for carvings and as a source of plaster powder. Archaeologists, geologists, and the stone industry have different definitions for the word ''alabaster''. In archaeology, the term ''alab ...

or decorated with mosaics, with scenes relating to the dedications of the altars: Mary Help of Christians,

Saint Anthony of Padua Anthony of Padua, OFM, (; ; ) or Anthony of Lisbon (; ; ; born Fernando Martins de Bulhões; 15 August 1195 – 13 June 1231) was a Portuguese Catholic priest and member of the Order of Friars Minor. Anthony was born and raised by a wealth ...

, the

Blessed Sacrament The Eucharist ( ; from , ), also called Holy Communion, the Blessed Sacrament or the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite, considered a sacrament in most churches and an ordinance in others. Christians believe that the rite was instituted by J ...

Saint Joseph According to the canonical Gospels, Joseph (; ) was a 1st-century Jewish man of Nazareth who was married to Mary, the mother of Jesus, and was the legal father of Jesus. Joseph is venerated as Saint Joseph in the Catholic Church, Eastern O ...

, and the Virgin of Montserrat. Krypta in der Sagrat Cor

Polychrome alabaster is also used for the ''Via Crucis'' (

Stations of the Cross The Stations of the Cross or the Way of the Cross, also known as the Via Dolorosa, Way of Sorrows or the , are a series of fourteen images depicting Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ on the day of Crucifixion of Jesus, his crucifixion and acc ...

) sculpted by Josep Miret. The windows that bring natural light inside are complemented by

windows with the following topics: the largest in the arch, in the corners, represent the appearance of the

Our Lady of the Pillar Our Lady of the Pillar () is the name given to the Blessed Virgin Mary in the context of the traditional belief that Mary, while living in Jerusalem, supernaturally appeared to the Apostle James the Greater in AD 40, AD 40 while he was pre ...

and the conversion of King Reccared I to Catholicism; Saint Ferdinand and Saint Hermenegild are represented in the two large vertical windows; and the small ones located above the door are dedicated to

Joachim Joachim was, according to Sacred tradition, the husband of Saint Anne, the father of Mary, mother of Jesus, Mary (mother of Jesus), and the maternal grandfather of Jesus. The story of Joachim and Anne first appears in the Gospel of James, part of ...

, Isidore the Farmer, Saint Anthony and Saint Elizabeth of Portugal. From the crypt there is access to a chapel dedicated to the Perpetual Adoration, excavated into the mountain in the late 1940s, consisting of three naves divided by columns. The interior is decorated with marble, mosaics in the pavement, and paintings by Miquel Farré i Albagés in the vaults, made between 1947 and 1949. Outside of the crypt, on either side of the main door, are two staircases leading to the level of the temple itself.

Gallery

File:Juan Bosco (1886).jpg, Saint John Bosco during his visit to Barcelona in 1886. File:1ª pedra Sagrat Cor (28-12-02).jpg, Laying the foundation stone (12-28-1902). File:Pabellón Expo'88.jpg, Mudéjar pavilion for the 1888 Universal Exposition (next to the hermitage). File:Sagrat Cor (1931).jpg, The Sagrat Cor in 1931. File:Ermita Sagrat Cor (1902).jpg, The hermitage in 1902, before building the temple. File:Sagrado Corazón19.jpg, The hermitage today, integrated in the temple. File:Tibidabo07.jpg File:Sagrado Corazón05.jpg File:Sagrado Corazón09.jpg File:Sagrado Corazón18.jpg

Bibliography

* * * * * * *

External links

Sagrat Cor official site

Sagrat Cor Review (German)
{{Barcelona landmarks Roman Catholic churches in Barcelona Tourist attractions in Barcelona Sarrià-Sant Gervasi Gothic Revival church buildings in Spain Romanesque Revival church buildings 20th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Spain Roman Catholic churches completed in 1961 Basilica churches in Spain Salesian churches