Sagrada Família

The four central columns of the greatest tempte in the world.
The four most important columns of the Sagrada Familia expiatory Temple are those dedicated to the evangelists John, Matthew, Mark and Luke.
They rise at the center of the cross vault and will support the large central dome dedicated to Jesus Christ, wich will end up with the cross al a height of 170 metres.

It is therefore the columns that have to support the heaviest part of the Temple, and for this reason, Gaudì wanted them to be made with the most resistant type of rock found in nature, porphyry. This type of rock can support 2000 kg/cm2.
It is reddish in colour, and once it has been polished it can be considered a precious stone.
It has been used over the centuries for the construction of some of the noblest works of architecture, from emperor tombs to decorative items of exceptionally large dimensions.

The four columns of the Temple have a diameter of 2.10 metres and a height of 25 metres.
They begin with a star-shaped 12-side polygon - a dodecagon, well-polished at the base (1.20 metres) and in the first part of the drum (1 metre), which rises to a height of 25 metres and on which one can see the finishings carried out with a diamond disk every half centimetre.

The shape of this column is the same Gaudì gave all the columns in the Temple, and is based on the interselection in space of two helicoids, rising in opposite directions starting from the same 12 side polygonal base, which becomes a circle at a height in metres equal to double the sides of the base (2x12 + 1.2 = 25.20 metres).

Material supplied to produce the columns, the altar and the steps: ca. 180 m3 blocks  of red porphyry imperial

Architect: Jordi Bonet (Site Superintendent of the Sagrada Familia Temple)