Expiatory Church Of The Sacred Heart Of Jesus, Mount Tibidabo, Catalonia, Spain. Temple Del Sagrat Cor Vist Des De La Talaia Del Tibidabo.

English: Expiatory Church of The Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Mount Tibidabo, Catalonia, Spain.

Català: Temple del Sagrat Cor vist des de la Talaia del Tibidabo.

Photo: 11 September 2009.

Source: Own work.

Author: Jordiferrer

(Wikimedia Commons)

“Here Is This Heart Which Has Loved Men So Much.

It Is Only Love And Mercy”.

Catholic Holy Card depicting The Sacred Heart of Jesus, circa 1880.
Auguste Martin Collection, University of Dayton Libraries.
Date: 1880.
Source: Turgis.
Author: Turgis.
(Wikimedia Commons)

Text from Wikipedia - the free encyclopædia,

unless stated otherwise.

The Temple Expiatori del Sagrat Cor (English: Expiatory Church of The Sacred Heart of Jesus, Spanish: Templo Expiatorio del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús) is a Roman Catholic Church and Minor Basilica located on the summit of Mount Tibidabo in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.

The building is the work of the Spanish architect Enric Sagnier and was completed by his son Josep Maria Sagnier i Vidal. The construction of the Church, Dedicated to The Sacred Heart of Jesus, lasted from 1902 to 1961.

The idea of building a Catholic Church on the summit of Mount Tibidabo emerged in the Late-19th-Century, amidst rumours about the construction of a Protestant 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 and promoter of the project. From this arose the idea of a building Dedicated to The Sacred Heart of Jesus, a Dedication very popular at that time thanks to the impetus given by Pope Leo XIII, and following in line with the Church built in Rome by Bosco himself (Sacro Cuore di Gesù a Castro Pretorio) and the famous Sacré-Cœur in Paris.

In 1886, a Neo-Gothic Hermitage was built, and, two years later, for the Universal Exposition, the Vallvidrera road was urbanised 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 Foundation Stone was placed in a Ceremony presided over by the Bishop of Barcelona, 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 Minor Basilica, from Pope Saint John XXIII.