Daily TribuneGaudi knew his project would not be finished in his lifetime and estimated that it would take four generations, since he really intended to engage the Catalans and make the completion of the church an inter-generational and communal effort.
SOARING opus. At 172.5 meters tall, the UNESCO-listed Catholic basilica is structurally complete, with a few finishing touches still to be done.
Pope Leo XIV inaugurated on 10 June the central Tower of Jesus Christ -- the tallest tower that now makes Sagrada Familia the tallest Catholic church in the world, symbolizing the grit and growth of Barcelona and the church’s architect, Antoni Gaudi.
Construction of the church began in 1882 under architect Francisco de Paula del Villar, who resigned a year later. Since then, Gaudi took over as architect, transforming Del Villar’s conventional neo-Gothic design into a very intricate Gothic and curvilinear Art Nouveau masterpiece aimed at imitating nature, not only by aesthetics but even according to the exact dimensions and patterns of nature as homage and offering to the one and only Creator.
Gaudi did not marry and spent the last 12 years of his life constructing the massive basilica, no longer accepting any other commissions. Unaided by computer, Gaudi manually employed the funicular or hanging models technique in designing the gravity-defying structure, a pre-AutoCAD innovation that has only been verified for feasibility and stability after the architectural programming software was invented in 1982.
INTRICATE, tree-like column design inside Sagrada Familia.
PHYSICAL model of the Nativity Facade for the basilica.
Gaudi led a very pious and religious life, spending much of his time praying and hearing Mass, if not working on the church. He designed every façade of the church with sculptures depicting the life of Christ and Bible passages, so that these would evangelize and proclaim the gospels even to those who cannot read the Bible and even from afar.
In April 2025, the Vatican declared Gaudi a “venerable,” the second step to sainthood, as recognition of his heroic virtues and dedication of his life to faith and architecture, which also earned him the moniker, “God’s Architect.”
POPE Leo XIV (center) leads a Holy Mass in the Basilica of the Sagrada Familia and the inauguration of the Jesus Christ tower in Barcelona, on 10 June 2026.
THE author with her family on a recent trip to Barcelona.
Sagrada Familia’s central nave still had no roof when Gaudi died in 1926. Less than a quarter of the church was complete then, including the crypt and the Nativity façade, which have been inscribed by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as a World Heritage Site under “Works of Antoni Gaudi” in 2005.
Gaudi knew his project would not be finished in his lifetime and estimated that it would take four generations, since he really intended to engage the Catalans and to make the completion of the church an inter-generational and communal effort.
Eight generations of Catalans, have worked on the basilica for 144 years now, including father-and-son engineers and architects, and it is still incomplete, with the main door and another façade expected to be finished by 2030.
But even through interruptions like the Spanish Civil War; anarchists rebellion in 1936 that set fire to the crypt and partially destroyed Gaudi’s original plans; World War II; lack of funds and donations and even the recent Covid-19 pandemic, the Catalans have manifested so much grit to restore Gaudi’s plans and to ensure the Sagrada’s growth into a megachurch that it is today.
CRUCIFIXION sculpture on the Passion Facade.
Thanks to millions of tourists that flock the church each year, even those not to attend Mass but only to take selfies amid the church’s “rainbow” stained glass windows, the church can now sustainably assure its completion.
Pope Leo XIV’s inauguration of the 100-ton Tower of Jesus Christ marking the centenary of Gaudi’s death is testament that God never forgets those who never forget Him. With God, nothing is impossible — even a very ambitious and a seemingly perpetually incomplete architectural marvel like Sagrada Familia.
For those looking for a spacious and comfortable place to stay in Barcelona, Loca Barcelona, available on AirBnb, has an apartment with a party veranda overlooking Sagrada Familia. Loca is a great host that takes care of its guests before, during and after their stay.
Equipped with WiFi and complete house amenities, the apartment is only a five-to-10-minute walk from the basilica and its surrounds that includes many grocery stores, cafes and restaurants offering international and local Catalan fare — a strategic neighborhood location that provides the comforts tourists are looking for while enabling them to experience a taste of the authentic local life.
