The Sagrada Família may be completely finished between 2026 and 2028

Barcelona (ACN).- The most famous building by Antoni Gaudí, the Sagrada Família Basilica, finally has an estimate of when construction of it will finish. The President of the Sagrada Família Trust, Joan Rigol, confirmed on Tuesday that the church may be completely finished between 2026 and 2028.“If nothing new happens, construction work may finish in 15 or 17 years”, stated Rigol. The basilica will have a total of eighteen towers, eight of which are currently built. The tallest will be 170 metres high. It should be completed in seven years and will be Barcelona’s highest point. The Sagrada Família was designed by Antoni Gaudí, but the Art Nouveau architect died much before the building was to be completed. For many decades, construction was halted, but in the last twenty years, work has increased in order to finish this extremely complex and huge church made out of stone. The money to finance its construction comes from ticket sales from the more than three million tourists that will have visited the temple this year; a temple that last November was declared a basilica by Pope Benedict XVI.

The Sagrada Família’s iconic image is linked to the four thin bell towers on each of the two façades, at the North and South sides of the basilica. The eight towers that can be seen at the moment will be joined by ten more towers, which are yet to be built. Four other bell towers similar to the ones in place -but slightly higher- are to be built over the East façade, which will be the church’s main entrance. Therefore, the church will have a total of 12 bell towers, one for each apostle as Antoni Gaudí indicated. The North Façade is dedicated to Jesus Christ’s nativity, and the South one to Christ’s Passion. The East Façade will picture Christ’s Glory, and it will be the last part of the temple to be completed.

Furthermore, the Sagrada Família will have six more towers, which will be taller than the twelve pinnacles representing the apostles. The basilica’s highest tower will be dedicated to Jesus Christ; it will be placed at the centre, over the church’s crossing within the transept and it will be 170 metres high. It will be Barcelona’s tallest construction. In order to complete the central tower, the cranes will have to be changed, and one of them “will grow” at the same time as the structure, as Rigol explained. At each side of the Jesus Christ Tower, there will be four other thin spires, representing the four evangelists. Finally, there will be a wide tower over the apse dedicated to the Virgin Mary; it will be the second tallest structure of the temple.