Barcelona’s Sagrada Familia reaches maximum height
Barcelona’s towering Sagrada Familia Basilica has reached its maximum height, but Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí’s masterpiece is still years away from completion.
The church said a crane on Friday placed the upper arm of a cross atop the Tower of Jesus Christ, the towering centerpiece of the church, which now stands 172.5 meters above the city.
While the unfinished monument is already the tallest church in the world, Friday’s addition brings Sagrada Familia one step closer to completion.
The first stone of the Sagrada Familia was placed in 1882, but Gaudi never expected it to be completed during his lifetime.
When he died after being hit by a tram in 1926, at the age of 73, only one of his towers had been completed.
Work has accelerated in recent years as the basilica has become a major international tourist attraction, with people around the world visiting Barcelona to see the monument, fascinated by Gaudí’s radical aesthetic combining Catholic symbolism with organic forms.
The interior of the Tower of Christ is still being worked on and the exterior is surrounded by construction cranes and scaffolding.
But ahead of celebrations this June to mark the centenary of Gaudí’s death, climbing to the top of the central tower rising above the transept has become a priority.
The scaffolding surrounding the central tower is expected to be removed by June to coincide with the opening of the Jesus Christ Tower, the church said.
Priest Josep Turull, rector of the Sagrada Familia, said that the cross has four arms, as Gaudí planned, and its shape is recognizable from all sides.
He added that, if Barcelona’s city government gives permission, the original plan also includes a beam of light shining from each arm of the cross, symbolizing the church’s role as a spiritual beacon.
Millions of tourists visit Sagrada Familia every year, and entrance fees fund much of the ongoing construction.
This year the Sagrada Familia will host a variety of events to celebrate the Catalan Modernist’s legacy, including other striking buildings in Barcelona and elsewhere in Spain.
Sagrada Familia became the world’s largest church last October, rising above the spire of Ulmer Münster in Germany, a Gothic Lutheran church built over 347 years starting in 1543.
The height of this church is 161.53 meters.
A prayer verse from the Gloria that Catholics recite during mass was placed at the base of the cross erected at the Sagrada Familia on Friday afternoon, the church’s rector said.
It reads: “You alone are Holy, you alone are Lord, you alone are the Most High.”
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