If you’ve ever done a Google Images search for “Barcelona,” then you’ve undoubtedly seen the picture: a spiky-looking cathedral perched on a hill, a golden statue of Jesus with his arms outstretched, Rio-de-Janeiro style, balanced on top.
With this in mind, you couldn’t be blamed for assuming this is one of Barcelona’s most important icons. (Last year when I had a countdown to a Barcelona trip on my phone, even I was suckered in to selecting a photo of this church to go along with the countdown, despite knowing nothing about it. The photo was so pretty though, and the sunset made it extra dramatic.)
But the truth is that this church isn’t one of Barcelona’s most famous, and most visitors to the city never actually venture out to see it. I’d been to Barcelona four or five times and knew this church existed but had no idea what it was called or how to get there. Until our most recent visit, when we had a free day, and I decided I was finally going to figure it out.
The first thing I learned was that the hill on which the church is built is called Mount Tibidabo. The only reason I had actually ever heard of Tibidabo before was because I’d recently finished reading The Shadow of the Wind, one of Spain’s most famous books, which is set in Barcelona. The next thing I learned was that the name of the church is Temple Expiatori del Sagrat Cor.
Turning to my favorite travel app, Citymapper, we put in Temple Expiatori del Sagrat Cor as our destination and began our journey, which would take three different methods of transportation: metro/rail, funicular, and bus.
Step 1: Metro S1/S2 to Peu de Funicular
Most likely, your journey to Mount Tibidabo will begin with taking the metro. No matter where you are in the city, you certainly won’t be too far from a metro line. You’ll need to take the S1 or S2 line, both of which are kind of like the metro but technically different because they go out to the suburbs of Barcelona. We started from Plaça de Catalunya, and you can take the S1/S2 directly from there, but if you’re not as central, you may need to navigate to a different station where you can pick up the S1 or S2.
Inside the station, we asked for help buying our tickets to make sure we could get exactly where we wanted to go. It turns out it’s super cheap and convenient to get all the way up to Tibidabo with the T-familiar 8-journey 30-day multi-person ticket. Make sure you select the option for 1 zone. The total cost should be €11.20, and it covers the cost of your metro journey and your bus journey, round trip — for two people! Just scan the card twice as you and your companion go through the metro turnstiles.
Once you’re in the station and have your tickets, follow the signs for S1 or S2 toward Terassa Nacions Unides (S1) or Sabadell Parc del Nord (S2). Both will get you where you need to go. Just make sure you get off at the stop called Peu de Funicular!
Step 2: Funicular to Vallvidrera Superior
When you arrive at the Peu de Funicular station, follow the signs that just have an icon of a funicular on it. It only takes a couple of minutes to change platforms and board the funicular, which typically runs about every six minutes. The funicular wasn’t even near full when we rode it — only a few other people were onboard.
Once the journey begins, you only have to ride one stop to Vallvidrera Superior, which takes about three minutes.
Step 3: Minibus 111 to Pl. Tibidabo
After arriving at the funicular station, exit the station and walk across the little plaza to the bus stop for Bus 111, which typically comes every 10 minutes. Unlike most of the buses you’ve probably seen around Barcelona, Bus 111 is a cute little red minibus. Once you’re onboard, don’t forget to scan your T-familiar ticket again — twice if you’re traveling with a companion.
You’ll ride the 111 for nine stops, about nine minutes, until you reach Pl. Tibidabo. You’ll know when you’ve arrived!
(To get back to Barcelona when you’re finished at Tibidabo, just do the whole travel thing in reverse.)
What To See at Mount Tibidabo
Okay, so now we’re up here on this hill overlooking Barcelona. We found the church with the golden Jesus on top.
But… is that an amusement park?
That ended up being a big surprise to me. 😂 Because honestly, it feels seems like the amusement park is Tibidabo’s main attraction, and the church is kind of an afterthought. I can’t say I’ve ever seen an amusement park and church so close together before.
Because it turns out that Parque Tibidabo, the amusement park, is even older than the basilica! It was built in 1899 and opened in 1905 and is currently among the world’s oldest amusement parks that is still functioning in present-day. One of its most famous rides is called Avió, which is a plane modeled after the first commercial aircraft flight from Madrid to Barcelona in 1927.
Parque Tibidabo is pretty extensive, divided into five levels. The level seen above is the top, and apparently guests typically start at the top and work their way down. One thing that I thought was nice, was the fact that we could walk around to check out the views, and we didn’t have to buy a ticket.
After circling the top level of the park, we decided to finally check out the church — which was the whole reason we’d come up to Tibidabo in the first place.
So, why did they build the church all the way up on this hill by the amusement park? Apparently there were rumors of a plan to build a Protestant church and hotel/casino up here, and the Catholics simply could not have that, so they acquired the land.
The first part to be built was the Romanesque-style crypt, and the actual church itself which sits on top was built several years later. Both the crypt and the basilica are free to enter. Honestly, I thought the crypt was more visually interesting as the Neo-Gothic-style basilica is actually pretty plain inside, though the stained glass is pretty!
But still, the whole thing left me with some questions. A lot of the time when a church is granted basilica status by the pope, the pope comes in person. The Temple Expiatori del Sagrat Cor received basilica status in 1961, so the amusement park had been around for like 60 years already. Did Pope John XXIII come up here and take a quick ride on the Ferris wheel before popping into the church?
Overall, I’m glad that I finally ventured up to Mount Tibidabo to see the church that seems a lot more famous than it is, and to find out that it sits right next door to one of the world’s oldest amusement parks. The afternoon was full of surprises, which is always fun when you’re visiting somewhere you’ve been before!
Find more things to do in Barcelona.
Have you ever visited Tibidabo? What did you think? Let me know in the comments!
-Cathy
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