The Temple of the Poor

The moving story of the construction of the Sagrada Familia and the lives of those who grew up in its shadow.

Jaume el Bordillo, tenacious and brave, is the son of an unknown father and a young mother with a confused past, who came into the world on the same day that Vicentó, an older craftsman who worked on the construction the Sagrada Familia fell from scaffolding and lost his life. Jaume’s path in life is not at all easy, as told by Jaume himself in an intimate first-person narrative that allows readers a glimpse into the social and political portrait of the time. In a childhood that was full of hope, he grew up and went to school in the shadows of the modernist temple, the Sagrada Familia, with the children of those workers who worked on its construction.

Over time, the construction progresses and takes shape under the directions of Gaudí, the humble and pious ground-breaking architect who has the appearance of a beggar. However, good times never come, and the violent disturbances of the Semana Trágica–with especially dramatic consequences in the churches–mark the beginning of the 20th century, along with trade unionism, strikes and the coup d’état in 1936, which put an end to the Republic. Constant interruptions in the construction of a temple that is not just a work of architecture, but poetry for the senses.