The regular Mass is held in the crypt of modernist architect Antoni Gaudí’s masterpiece church, one of Europe’s most visited monuments. Josep Maria Turull, rector at Sagrada Familia and the Barcelona archdiocese’s director for tourism, pilgrimage and sanctuaries. But the challenge remains: how to balance the churches’ competing roles amid the tourism surge without sacrificing their spiritual purpose. With an estimated 330 million people visiting religious sites yearly around the world, it’s one of the tourism market's largest segments. The visitor guides included with the entry fee seek to prioritize the church's role as an active place of worship.

Source: Daily Sun July 23, 2023 11:30 UTC