Barcelona’s famous Sagrada Familia will finally be completed on this date – more than 140 years after construction began

The construction of the church was carried out illegally for 137 years, until 2019, when a construction license was finally issued by Barcelona City Council. Authorities only discovered the “anomaly” of planning permission never being granted in 2016

The Sagrada Família, in Barcelona, ​​will finally be completed in 2026, more than 140 years after construction began, authorities have confirmed.

The construction of the last of the six towers will mark the completion of the basilica structure, the organization responsible for managing the site announced last week.

“The Chapel of the Assumption is expected to be completed in 2025 and the tower of Jesus Christ in 2026,” said the Sagrada Família in a statement announcing the publication of its 2023 annual report.

The tower of Jesus Christ will be 172.5 meters high and will be finished with a 17-meter-high four-armed cross, according to the cathedral.

When completed, the Sagrada Familia will become the tallest church in the world, surpassing Ulm Cathedral in Germany.

Construction began in 1882, according to a design led by celebrated Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí, who decided that the monumental structure would have 18 enormous spindle-shaped towers, each symbolizing a different biblical figure – the 12 apostles, the four evangelists, the Virgin Mary and Jesus.

When Gaudí died in 1926, it was estimated that only 10% to 15% of the project had already been built, including a transept, a crypt and part of the apse wall.

Construction, already slow in itself, was interrupted at the end of the 1930s by the Spanish Civil War, when most of Gaudí’s designs and models – whose tomb is located beneath the cathedral – were destroyed.

Current projects are based on surviving and reconstructed materials, as well as reimagined adaptations of the original.

In 1984, the building was classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and was consecrated by Pope Benedict XVI for religious worship in 2010.

The construction of the church was carried out illegally for 137 years, until 2019, when a construction license was finally issued by Barcelona City Council. Authorities only discovered the “anomaly” of planning permission never being granted in 2016.