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Sagrada Família · Architecture

The Sagrada Família's fruit-topped pinnacles

There's a calendar high up on the Sagrada Família, and it's written in fruit.

Checked: true

The story holds up against the record.

Published · checked against 3 sources
Part one · in the video's parallax style

The legend says

Look up at the Sagrada Família. Is that... fruit?

Giant baskets of it, in coloured mosaic, made by Etsuro Sotoo from Gaudí's own models.

Easy to take for decoration. But count them: twelve baskets, twelve different fruits.

Loquats, cherries, plums, peaches, pears, apples, almonds, figs, persimmons, chestnuts, oranges, pomegranates.

Set out by the time of year. A crop for every month.

It's the tree of life from the New Jerusalem. Every fruit is a good deed.

And over the central nave, grapes and wheat, a chalice and a host. Bread and wine.

Not decoration. A message, written in fruit.

This is the story as it is told. We tell it as a story. Below is what the record holds.

But
Part two

The record shows

6 facts, each checked against a source we opened. Tap a source to read the line that carries it.

  1. 01

    The side-nave façades (east and west) are each topped with six triangular pediments; each pediment has a basket of fruit in ceramic trencadís mosaic by Etsuro Sotoo, following Gaudí's models

    1sagradafamilia.org, Information Booklet 6, p. 3 (official)
    the façades on the side naves, which are topped with six triangular pediments on each façade (east and west) with various points to let light in. Each pediment has a basket of fruit in ceramic trencadís mosaic, by Etsuro Sotoo, following Gaudí’s models.
  2. 02

    Twelve baskets, twelve types of fruit, laid out by the time of year: loquats, cherries, plums, peaches, pears, apples, almonds, figs, persimmons, chestnuts, oranges, pomegranates

    1sagradafamilia.org, Information Booklet 6, p. 3 (official)
    The twelve baskets, which contain twelve types of fruit laid out according to the time of year (loquats, cherries, plums, peaches, pears, apples, almonds, figs, persimmons, chestnuts, oranges and pomegranates)
  3. 03

    They point back to the New Jerusalem, where the tree of life produced a crop for each month of the year

    1sagradafamilia.org, Information Booklet 6, p. 3 (official)
    take us back to New Jerusalem, where the tree of life produced a crop for each month of the year.
  4. 04

    They represent the fruits of the Holy Spirit: the good deeds carried out with that inspiration

    1sagradafamilia.org, Information Booklet 6, p. 3 (official)
    They represent the fruits of the Holy Spirit, the good deeds carried out with this inspiration.
  5. 05

    The central-nave pediments have the same finish, but the mosaic shows white and red grapes with a chalice, and wheat with a host on top: the Eucharist, bread and wine

    1sagradafamilia.org, Information Booklet 6, p. 3 (official)
    We also find the same type of finish (triangular pediments with ceramic decoration on top) on the façades of the central nave. In this case, however, the trencadís mosaic by Sotoo represents white and red grapes, on which rest a chalice and shafts of wheat with a host on top, as symbols of the Eucharist (of its two elements: the bread and the wine).
  6. 06

    Etsuro Sotoo, a Japanese sculptor born 1953, made the fruit baskets crowning the temple's pinnacles

    2en.wikipedia.org, "Etsuro Sotoo"
    Etsurō Sotoo (Japanese: 外尾悦郎; born 1953) is a Japanese sculptor … as well as the fruit baskets crowning the pinnacles of the temple.
    3sagradafamilia.org, Information Booklet 6 (official)
    Sotoo, Etsuro (Fukuoka, 1953) Japanese sculptor who has been working with the Sagrada Família since 1978.

Left out on purpose

What we chose not to say in the video, and why. If a comment says "you forgot…", the answer is probably here.

The fruit crowning the towers (from the idea)

The fruit crowns the pinnacles of the nave pediments; the bell towers end in other finials. The video says "pinnacles".

The east side carrying spring and summer fruit, the west side autumn and winter

Only in search snippets; no opened page confirmed it.

Green fruit lower down ripening higher up

Only in search snippets; no opened page confirmed it.

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Read the video's transcript

Leo Look up at the Sagrada Família. Is that... fruit?

Sara Giant baskets of it, in coloured mosaic, made by Etsuro Sotoo from Gaudí's own models.

Leo Easy to take for decoration. But count them: twelve baskets, twelve different fruits.

Sara Loquats, cherries, plums, peaches, pears, apples, almonds, figs, persimmons, chestnuts, oranges, pomegranates.

Leo Set out by the time of year. A crop for every month.

Sara It's the tree of life from the New Jerusalem. Every fruit is a good deed.

Leo And over the central nave, grapes and wheat, a chalice and a host. Bread and wine.

Sara Not decoration. A message, written in fruit.

Sara Stories first, facts follow. Follow Dornix.

Sources

  1. sagradafamilia.org, Information Booklet 6, p. 3 (official)
  2. en.wikipedia.org, "Etsuro Sotoo"
  3. sagradafamilia.org, Information Booklet 6 (official)

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