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Gaudí’s love of nature is visible in this façade. Up to a hundred plant and animal species are sculpted into the stone, and the two main columns are supported by turtles.

Started in 1978 and completed in 2002, this façade by Josep Subirachs represents the pain and sacrifice of Jesus. The difference between the Gothic feel of Subirachs’ style and the intricacy of Gaudí’s original work has not been without polemic.

These helicoidal stone stairways, which wind up the bell towers, look like snail shells. They allow access to the towers.

For a close-up look at the gargoyles and mosaic tiling on the spires, scale the bell tower stairs – or ride up in a lift. The views are equally spectacular. See City Views, not for sufferers of vertigo.

This bizarre contraption in the crypt museum is testimony to Gaudí’s ingenuity. Gaudí created this 3D construction – made of chains and small weighted sacks of sand – as a model for the arches and vaulted ceilings of the Colonia Güell crypt. No-one, in the history of architecture, had ever designed a building like this.

The immense central body of the temple, still in progress, is made up of leaning, tree-like columns with branches spreading out across the ceiling. Inspired by towering redwood trees, the overall effect is that of a stone forest.

In the only cloister to be finished by Gaudí, the imagery is surprisingly modern. Thought to be inspired by the anarchist riots that began in 1909 (Stages in Barcelona's History), the devil’s temptation of man is represented by the sculpture of a serpent wound around a bomb-throwing rebel.

Gaudí now lies in the crypt and his tomb is visible from the museum. Recently renovated to include a small cinema, the museum offers information about the temple’s construction. The highlight is the maquette workshop, producing scale plaster and stone models for the ongoing work.

Adorned with lizards, serpents and two gigantic snails, the apse was the first section of the temple to be completed by Gaudí.

The church buzzes with activity: sculptors dangle from spires; stone masons carve huge slabs of stone; and cranes and scaffolding litter the site. Observing the construction in progress enables visitors to grasp the monumental scale of the project.