Sagrada Família
Gaudí's unfinished basilica, whose central Tower of Jesus Christ was topped out in 2026.
Work on the Basilica of the Sagrada Família began in 1882 under Francisco de Paula del Villar, who resigned within a year. Antoni Gaudí took charge in 1883 and reshaped the project entirely, replacing the neo-Gothic scheme with a structural system of branching columns, hyperboloid vaults and catenary geometry. He devoted the last decades of his life to the church, working on it exclusively from 1914 until his death in 1926, by which time only the crypt, apse wall and one tower of the Nativity façade were complete.
Construction has continued ever since, funded by donations and admission income and interrupted by the Spanish Civil War, during which Gaudí's models and drawings were damaged. Pope Benedict XVI consecrated the basilica in 2010, and the interior is now roofed and glazed with stained glass by Joan Vila-Grau. The central Tower of Jesus Christ was topped out in 2026, the centenary of Gaudí's death, taking the building to about 172.5 metres. Visitors tour the nave, crypt, museum and two façade towers.
Highlights
- Nativity and Passion façades, with the Nativity façade largely built in Gaudí's lifetime
- Forest-like nave of branching columns lit by graded stained glass
- Tower of Jesus Christ, topped out in 2026 at about 172.5 metres
- Crypt containing Gaudí's tomb and a museum of models and drawings
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