In Barcelona, since December 8, the famous Basilica of the Sagrada Familia has had a new profile: a new tower topped with an illuminated star completes the still unfinished work of the famous Catalan monument.
From our correspondent in Barcelona,
It was an event in Barcelona: the inauguration of the tower of the Virgin Mary of the Sagrada Familia lasted all day Wednesday. Popular festivities with dances and human pyramids then a religious ceremony with the blessing of this new tower, in the street facing the Barcelonans who came to admire the first illumination of the glass star which culminates this 138m tower.
Everything was also broadcast live on Catalan TV. It must be said that it had been 44 years since the people of Barcelona had seen a new tower completed at the Sagrada Familia. The Mary Tower is the 9th to be built, the tallest at the moment and it will be the second most important – after that of Jesus – when the work is completed.
A project started almost 140 years ago
It may make you smile, but the Sagrada Familia, which has been under construction since 1882, is about to be completed. This tower, Mary is the 9th to be completed out of the 18 in total planned by the Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí, one for each of the 12 apostles, 4 evangelists, the Virgin Mary and that of Jesus Christ which will culminate at 172 m and will be crowned with a giant cross. So – rest assured – the 9 unfinished towers are already well advanced and can also be seen from the street.
The foundation of the Sagrada Familia estimates today that 75% of the monument is finished. 2026 was the planned date for the end of construction – a year which is also the anniversary for the centenary of the death of its genius architect – but the Covid-19 pandemic has finally ruined everything and therefore shifts without a new date announced the finalization of the Basilica.
A construction financed by tourism
The works are mainly financed by the entries of the tourists who visit the monument, a monument which closed for more than 1 year and which receives three times fewer visitors since the pandemic.
Today, according to the foundation: the coffers are empty, but this is not the first obstacle that the construction of the Sagrada Familia has experienced. Almost 140 years after the start of construction, we will have to wait a little longer!