{"id":30571,"date":"2026-10-23T19:25:55","date_gmt":"2026-10-23T17:25:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/barcelonaartoftravel.com\/gaudi-and-the-rancagua-chapel\/"},"modified":"2026-10-23T19:25:55","modified_gmt":"2026-10-23T17:25:55","slug":"gaudi-and-the-rancagua-chapel","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/barcelonaartoftravel.com\/en\/gaudi-and-the-rancagua-chapel\/","title":{"rendered":"Gaud\u00ed and the Rancagua Chapel"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>\n  .rancagua-chapel { margin-top: 60px; }\n  .rancagua-chapel p { margin: 0 0 20px 0; }\n  .rancagua-chapel h1 { font-size: 3.1em; line-height: 1.2em; margin: 8px 0 32px 0; }\n  .rancagua-chapel h2 { font-size: 1.7em; line-height: 1.2em; margin: 56px 0 18px 0; scroll-margin-top: 120px; }\n  @media (max-width: 767px) {\n    .rancagua-chapel h1 { font-size: 2.5em; }\n    .rancagua-chapel h2 { font-size: 1.6em; }\n  }\n  .rancagua-chapel ol { margin: 0 0 20px 0; }\n  .rancagua-chapel li { margin-bottom: 8px; }\n  .rancagua-chapel figure { margin: 40px auto 30px; max-width: 420px; }\n  .rancagua-chapel figure img { display: block; width: 100%; height: auto; margin: 0 0 10px 0; }\n  .rancagua-chapel figcaption { font-size: 0.9em; }\n  .rancagua-chapel > img { display: block; max-width: 420px; width: 100%; height: auto; margin: 40px auto 30px; }\n  .rancagua-chapel blockquote { margin: 0 0 24px 0; padding: 4px 0 4px 20px; border-left: 3px solid #78DED4; font-style: italic; }\n  .rancagua-chapel blockquote cite { display: block; margin-top: 8px; font-size: 0.9em; font-style: normal; }\n  .rancagua-chapel .btn-tickets {\n    display: inline-block;\n    background: #00665E;\n    color: #ffffff;\n    padding: 14px 32px;\n    font-family: 'Poppins', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;\n    font-weight: 600;\n    text-decoration: none;\n    border-radius: 2px;\n  }\n  .rancagua-chapel .btn-tickets:hover { background: #004f49; color: #ffffff; }\n<\/style>\n<article class=\"rancagua-chapel\">\n<p class=\"subtitle\"><em>Sagrada Fam\u00edlia \u00b7 Barcelona \u2192 Rancagua, Chile<\/em><\/p>\n<h1>Gaud\u00ed and Chile: the chapel that <em>sailed to Rancagua<\/em><\/h1>\n<p>In 1922 a Chilean friar asked Gaud\u00ed for some plans, offering prayers in return. Gaud\u00ed, who no longer took commissions, gave him a chapel designed for the Sagrada Fam\u00edlia. Today it is the only Gaud\u00ed project meant to be built outside Spain, and its story begins in Barcelona.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cIt would be proof of the spiritual brotherhood between Spain and America.\u201d<cite>Letter written on Gaud\u00ed&#8217;s behalf \u00b7 12 October 1922<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a class=\"btn-tickets\" href=\"#reservar\">Book your private tour<\/a><\/p>\n<figure>\n    <img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/barcelonaartoftravel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/rancagua-letter-aranda-1922.jpg\" alt=\"Handwritten letter from Friar Ang\u00e9lico Aranda to Antoni Gaud\u00ed, 15 August 1922\" width=\"752\" height=\"1000\"><figcaption>15 August 1922 \u00b7 Friar Ang\u00e9lico Aranda writes to Gaud\u00ed<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 id=\"historia\">A century between Barcelona and Rancagua<\/h2>\n<p>From a meeting at the Sagrada Fam\u00edlia to a project Chile is still determined to build.<\/p>\n<p><strong>1909<\/strong><br \/>Franciscan friar and painter Ang\u00e9lico Aranda arrives in Barcelona from Rome. He meets Gaud\u00ed at the Sagrada Fam\u00edlia, then just a few unfinished towers, and writes that the church \u201cwill be one of the wonders of modern architecture\u201d.<\/p>\n<p><strong>1915<\/strong><br \/>Gaud\u00ed designs a shrine to Our Lady of the Angels for the Sagrada Fam\u00edlia&#8217;s cloister, inspired by the work of sculptor Llu\u00eds Bonif\u00e0s in Girona Cathedral.<\/p>\n<p><strong>15 Aug 1922<\/strong><br \/>Aranda asks Gaud\u00ed for the plans of a small chapel for Rancagua: \u201can original work, truly original\u201d. He promises to pay him in prayers.<\/p>\n<p><strong>17 Sep 1922<\/strong><br \/>Gaud\u00ed, aged 70 and devoted to the basilica, had decided to decline. Rereading the letter, he finds pencil notes on the back: the measurements match his shrine.<\/p>\n<p><strong>12 Oct 1922<\/strong><br \/>Joan Mart\u00ed Matll\u00e8u, secretary of the Construction Board, replies on his behalf: Gaud\u00ed gives Rancagua the design of the chapel.<\/p>\n<p><strong>1936<\/strong><br \/>Gaud\u00ed&#8217;s workshop at the Sagrada Fam\u00edlia burns, along with models, plans and the painting Aranda had sent him as thanks.<\/p>\n<p><strong>1990s<\/strong><br \/>Chilean architect Christian Matzner and professor Joan Bassegoda bring the story back to light. In 1996 the Corporaci\u00f3n Gaud\u00ed de Triana is founded in Rancagua.<\/p>\n<p><strong>2014<\/strong><br \/>The project is presented in Rancagua&#8217;s Parque Catalu\u00f1a: a 30-metre chapel, a cultural centre and two plazas.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"cartas\">The 1922 letters<\/h2>\n<p>Three sheets tell the whole story: a friar&#8217;s request and the reply from Gaud\u00ed&#8217;s workshop.<\/p>\n<figure>\n    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/barcelonaartoftravel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/rancagua-letter-aranda-1922.jpg\" alt=\"Letter from Friar Ang\u00e9lico Aranda to Gaud\u00ed\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"752\" height=\"1000\"><figcaption><strong>15 August 1922<\/strong><br \/>Aranda introduces himself as \u201can admirer of yours\u201d and asks for plans \u201cof the kind only he knows how to make\u201d.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure>\n    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/barcelonaartoftravel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/rancagua-reply-1922-page-1.jpg\" alt=\"Reply to Friar Aranda written on Gaud\u00ed's behalf, page 1\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"726\" height=\"1000\"><figcaption><strong>12 October 1922 \u00b7 p. 1<\/strong><br \/>\u201cI am seventy years old and, giving my whole life to it, I still will not do all that the Sagrada Fam\u00edlia needs.\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure>\n    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/barcelonaartoftravel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/rancagua-reply-1922-page-2.jpg\" alt=\"Reply to Friar Aranda, page 2\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"375\" height=\"530\"><figcaption><strong>12 October 1922 \u00b7 p. 2<\/strong><br \/>Gaud\u00ed asks about the site, the winds and earthquakes, and encloses a sketch of where the shrine stands in the basilica.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 id=\"capilla\">A back door to the Virgin<\/h2>\n<p>At the Sagrada Fam\u00edlia, the chapel will stand at the centre of the cloister&#8217;s north wing, behind the apse on the Carrer de Proven\u00e7a side, just behind the Tower of the Virgin Mary. Gaud\u00ed wanted to give Mary \u201ca place of honour\u201d in the basilica.<\/p>\n<p>Inside, a dome shows the Trinity receiving Mary, the nine choirs of angels, and twelve child angels carrying fruit instead of flowers.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>If the great fa\u00e7ades feel daunting, it is always easier to enter through the Mother, by the back door.<cite>Llu\u00eds Bonet i Gar\u00ed, Gaud\u00ed&#8217;s collaborator, as told by Jos\u00e9 Manuel Almuzara<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>10 \u00d7 10 m<\/strong> floor plan \u00b7 <strong>30 m<\/strong> height \u00b7 <strong>1922<\/strong> year of the gift<\/p>\n<p>  <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/barcelonaartoftravel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/rancagua-chapel-model.jpg\" alt=\"Model of the Chapel of Our Lady of the Angels in Rancagua\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"667\" height=\"1000\"><\/p>\n<p>  <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/barcelonaartoftravel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/rancagua-girona-our-lady-of-the-angels.jpg\" alt=\"Our Lady of the Angels by Llu\u00eds Bonif\u00e0s in Girona Cathedral, the model Gaud\u00ed cited\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"399\" height=\"606\"><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"visita\">Gaud\u00ed and the Americas<\/h2>\n<p>A private tour of about two hours through the Sagrada Fam\u00edlia with an official guide of Catalonia, following the Rancagua story.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Essential<\/strong> \u00b7 <em>Individuals and families<\/em><br \/>A guided tour of the Sagrada Fam\u00edlia and the story of the Rancagua chapel, with the 1922 letters.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Premium<\/strong> \u00b7 <em>Cultural groups and VIPs<\/em><br \/>The Essential tour plus a meeting with Jos\u00e9 Manuel Almuzara, architect, Gaud\u00ed expert and ambassador of the Rancagua project.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Groups &amp; MICE<\/strong> \u00b7 <em>Incentives and associations<\/em><br \/>Tour and private talk on Gaud\u00ed and the Americas, with an optional cocktail.<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Gaud\u00ed in 1922, devoted solely to the basilica.<\/li>\n<li>The fa\u00e7ades and interior of the Sagrada Fam\u00edlia.<\/li>\n<li>The cloister: where Rancagua&#8217;s \u201ctwin\u201d chapel will stand.<\/li>\n<li>The letter of 12 October and the Chilean project today.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h2 id=\"preguntas\">What people ask us most<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Is there any Gaud\u00ed building outside Spain?<\/strong><br \/>None has been built. The Chapel of Our Lady of the Angels in Rancagua, Chile, will be the first once it is built. It comes from a Sagrada Fam\u00edlia shrine that Gaud\u00ed gave away in 1922.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Where would this chapel stand in the Sagrada Fam\u00edlia?<\/strong><br \/>At the centre of the cloister&#8217;s north wing, behind the apse on the Carrer de Proven\u00e7a side, just behind the Tower of the Virgin Mary.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How long is the tour?<\/strong><br \/>About two hours, private, with an official guide of Catalonia.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Which languages?<\/strong><br \/>Spanish, Catalan, English, French and Italian. Ask us about other languages.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Can groups or companies book?<\/strong><br \/>Yes. The Groups &amp; MICE format includes a private talk on Gaud\u00ed and the Americas, with an optional cocktail.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"reservar\">Tell us your date, language and group size<\/h2>\n<p>We&#8217;ll reply with a tailored proposal.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Email:<\/strong> <a href=\"mailto:manda@barcelonaartoftravel.com?subject=Gaud%C3%AD%20and%20the%20Americas%3A%20private%20Sagrada%20Fam%C3%ADlia%20tour\">manda@barcelonaartoftravel.com<\/a><br \/><strong>Phone:<\/strong> <a href=\"tel:+34695211963\">+34 695 211 963<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a class=\"btn-tickets\" href=\"https:\/\/wa.me\/34695211963?text=Hello%2C%20I%27m%20interested%20in%20the%20Gaud%C3%AD%20and%20the%20Americas%20tour\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Message us on WhatsApp<\/a><\/p>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sagrada Fam\u00edlia \u00b7 Barcelona \u2192 Rancagua, Chile Gaud\u00ed and Chile: the chapel that sailed to Rancagua In 1922 a Chilean friar asked Gaud\u00ed for some plans, offering prayers in return. Gaud\u00ed, who no longer took commissions, gave him a chapel designed for the Sagrada Fam\u00edlia. Today it is the only Gaud\u00ed project meant to be [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":30428,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"%%post_title%%","_seopress_titles_desc":"In 1922 Gaud\u00ed gave a Chilean friar the plans of a chapel designed for the Sagrada Fam\u00edlia. 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