More than 140 years after the first stone was laid, Antoni Gaudí’s unfinished masterpiece remains a living construction site, a holy monument where past and future meet in real time.
For history buffs, visiting Sagrada Família is like stepping into a time machine mid-journey, witnessing history being built stone by stone.
Gaudí’s Divine Vision and Early Struggles
Gaudí’s vision turned stone and light into a living forest inside Sagrada Família. The basilica’s interior was designed to mimic a mystical forest – columns branch into vaulted canopies, and stained-glass windows douse the nave in a kaleidoscope of color.
When Antoni Gaudí took over the project in 1883, he transformed the initial neo-Gothic plan into something utterly unique. Gaudí blended Gothic verticality with Art Nouveau curves, drawing inspiration from nature in every detail. “It is probably impossible to find a church building anything like it in the entire history of art,” art critic Rainer Zerbst observed of Gaudí’s singular creation.
From the start, the Sagrada Família was meant to be more than a church – it was Gaudí’s “Bible in stone.” He conceived three grand facades to depict the life of Christ: the Nativity Façade (east) bursting with joyous detail to celebrate Christ’s birth (completed 1930s), the stark Passion Façade (west) with angular sculptures to portray the crucifixion (completed 1980s-2000s), and the still-unfinished Glory Façade (south) which will illustrate the Resurrection and divine glory.
Gaudí knew the project would outlast him; when asked about the protracted timeline, he famously quipped, “My client is not in a hurry,” referring to God. Indeed, by the time Gaudí died in 1926, less than a quarter of the basilica was complete. He was tragically struck by a tram and passed away with his life’s work unfinished – his body now rests in the crypt of his beloved basilica.
Gaudí’s successors faced immense challenges. The Spanish Civil War in 1936 saw anarchists torch Gaudí’s workshop, destroying invaluable drawings and plaster models. Yet, the dream persisted: fragments of Gaudí’s plans were painstakingly recovered and pieced together by followers.
Construction resumed fitfully in the mid-20th century, a period marked by debate over whether finishing the basilica would stay true to Gaudí’s intent or stray from it.
Despite controversies, a series of architects continued the work, often aided by new technologies. In the 21st century, computer-aided design and 3D stone-cutting tools accelerated progress, bringing Gaudí’s complex geometries to life at a pace he could only have imagined.
Challenges and Milestones
Fast-forward to the 21st century, and Sagrada Família’s construction saga is as dynamic as ever. The basilica officially entered the final stretch of construction in the 2010s, reaching several dramatic milestones.
In 2010, the church’s interior vaults were completed and Pope Benedict XVI consecrated it as a basilica, finally allowing worship under a finished roof. By 2018 – astonishingly – the city of Barcelona issued its first official building permit for the basilica, more than 130 years after construction began, legitimizing Gaudí’s once-quixotic project in bureaucratic terms.
Work then shifted to the highest reaches of Gaudí’s design: the central cluster of monumental towers. In December 2021, Barcelona residents gazed upward as a gigantic 12-pointed glass star was lifted to crown the newly completed Tower of the Virgin Mary, which soars 138 meters high.
The star – illuminated from within – now shines over the city each night, a luminous symbol of hope that Gaudí himself envisioned over a century ago. By late 2023, all four Evangelist Towers (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) around the future central spire were completed and inaugurated with great fanfare.
These towers, each 135 meters tall and topped with the sculpted symbols of the four gospel writers, now form a ring around the basilica’s centerpiece. On a crisp November night in 2023, crowds gathered as the newly finished Evangelist towers were illuminated in celebration, their winged sculptures (a human, a lion, an ox, and an eagle) glowing over the Barcelona skyline.
And now the most breathtaking chapter is underway: the Tower of Jesus Christ – the tallest of them all – is rising at the basilica’s heart. Set to reach 172.5 meters (566 feet) in height, this will make Sagrada Família the tallest structure in Barcelona.
As of late 2024, construction had completed the 12th level of the Jesus tower, reaching 142.5 meters and marking the end of its main structure. The final segment of this tower will be the monumental cross at its summit. According to chief architect Jordi Faulí, the plan is to finish the tower’s terminal and place the cross by late 2025.
In fact, project leaders have timed the ultimate crowning for a symbolic date – June 10, 2026, exactly 100 years after Gaudí’s death – when the great cross will be inaugurated atop the completed tower. If all goes to plan, Gaudí’s centenary will see his masterwork finally reach its full height.
The Tower of Jesus Christ nears completion (center), flanked by completed Evangelist spires, as a crane prepares to crown it with a great cross. This feverish burst of progress comes after a period of uncertainty. In early 2020, the basilica fell silent as the COVID-19 pandemic brought construction to a halt for the first time since the Civil War.
With tourism – Sagrada Família’s financial lifeblood – collapsing, work stopped for nine months. “We had forecast to finish the work in 2026. Regretfully, this will not be possible,” admitted Xavier Martínez, the construction board’s director general, in 2021.
He could not even venture a new completion date, conceding it might be 2030 or beyond before Gaudí’s vision was fully realized. Yet, as visitors trickled back and then surged, the basilica’s fortunes rebounded. By 2024, attendance exceeded pre-pandemic levels – nearly 4.8 million people visited that year – restoring the steady flow of ticket revenue that funds the building work.
With finances shored up, the Sagrada Família’s guardians boldly reaffirmed 2026 as the new completion date for the main construction. Esteve Camps, president of the junta overseeing construction, announced in March 2024 that they now have the “money and material to finish the building, including the 172.5-metre central tower dedicated to Jesus Christ.”
However, “completion” in 2026 will not mean the basilica is entirely done. Decorative elements and final artistic details will continue for several years after the structural completion. Most notable is the basilica’s main entrance on the Glory Façade – still a skeletal work in progress.
Gaudí’s plans show a grandiose staircase and terrace that would sweep over an entire city block to properly frame the Glory Façade. Realizing this vision means facing a thorny urban challenge: roughly 3,000 residents live in apartments that would need to be removed to make way for Gaudí’s 60-meter grand stairway. I
t’s a controversy that has simmered for years, pitting the basilica’s completionists against local community resistance. Camps insists the monumental stairway was always part of Gaudí’s intent and cannot be abandoned, and city officials are in delicate negotiations to find a solution that respects both Gaudí’s vision and residents’ homes.
For now, the basilica’s team has smartly de-coupled this issue from the main construction timeline – they are forging ahead with finishing the Glory Façade’s towers and sculptures, treating the staircase as a separate “urban project” to be resolved in due course.
Other challenges have been met with ingenious solutions. Completing Gaudí’s fantastical designs often requires 21st-century innovation. Architects like Mark Burry deployed advanced aeronautical software to decipher Gaudí’s geometric sketches, solving riddles of structure and form.
Modern craftsmen, guided by digital models, shape stones off-site which are then hoisted into place, a far cry from the hand-carving of Gaudí’s era. Jordi Faulí, today’s chief architect, notes that Sagrada Família has survived many trials – from the near-abandonment in 1910, to the Civil War, to the recent pandemic – thanks to an almost spiritual determination. “The construction board and people have always had the will to move forward and overcome. Our goal is to make Gaudí’s beautiful project a reality,” Faulí says.
In late 2025, as the final pieces are added to the Tower of Jesus and the last section of cloisters is completed, visitors will literally watch history being placed atop this basilica. Sagrada Família’s enduring construction is not a sign of failure; it is a testament to generational perseverance.
Five generations have watched the basilica rise, and soon – within the lifetime of the current generation – Gaudí’s once-impossible dream will stand complete, 18 spires and all.
Culture, Critics, and the Basilica’s Symbolism
Over the decades, Sagrada Família has evolved from an eccentric project to the pride of Barcelona – and a global icon. In 1984, even in its unfinished state, UNESCO declared Gaudí’s Nativity Façade and Crypt a World Heritage Site, recognizing the universal cultural value of his work.
Today, the basilica is often touted as the Eighth Wonder of the Modern World, and it’s certainly one of the most visited. Tourists from every corner of the globe flock here – in 2024, over 87% of the 4.8 million visitors were from outside Spain – drawn by the allure of witnessing an architectural legend still in the making.
Yet public opinion hasn’t always been kind. Gaudí’s contemporaries were confounded by his audacious style. Surrealist artist Salvador Dalí admired its wild aesthetic, calling Sagrada Família’s design a “terrifying and edible beauty,” as if the stone were shaped by some fantastic organic logic.
In stark contrast, writer George Orwell (who fought in Barcelona during the Civil War) loathed the basilica’s appearance, famously labeling it “one of the most hideous buildings in the world” and jesting that the anarchists showed bad taste in not blowing it up during the war. Such barbs are part of the basilica’s lore – a reminder that groundbreaking art often polarizes. Over time, however, admiration has far outweighed criticism.
The once-divisive construction site has become a beloved emblem of the city. To Barcelona’s residents, the sight of cranes hovering over Sagrada Família is almost comforting – a constant through decades of change. The very incompleteness of the basilica has become part of its mystique and charm.
Culturally, Sagrada Família carries deep symbolism. It is an Expiatory temple, meaning it was funded by donations – originally from devout parishioners, now largely from tourist entry fees – as an offering of atonement. This humble financing model meant progress was slow and sometimes uncertain, but it has also kept the church’s spirit grounded in the “faith of the people.”
The basilica is dedicated to the Holy Family (Jesus, Mary, Joseph), and nearly every stone has symbolic meaning. Visitors marvel at the Nativity Façade’s riotous celebration of life – replete with carved animals, fruits, and biblical scenes – and at the contrasting severity of the Passion Façade, with its gaunt, angular figures sculpted by Josep Subirachs to evoke the agony of Christ’s sacrifice.
When the Glory Façade is completed in coming years, it will form the majestic main entrance, representing the path to God’s eternal glory. In Gaudí’s vision, one will ascend from the street (symbolically, from the secular world through an underground passage representing Hell) up the grand staircase into the basilica, passing through a sculptural program of Judgment and Salvation.
In essence, entering Sagrada Família is meant to be a spiritual journey. Even in its partial state today, the experience is profound. As you step inside, the noise of the city drops away and you are enveloped by towering columns of light and stone. Many describe the interior as otherworldly – sunlight through the stained glass washes the space in ethereal blues, greens, oranges, and golds that shift with the hour.
It can feel like standing in a living forest or inside a gigantic kaleidoscope. Gaudí intended it so: “The sun is the best painter,” he said, and here the sun paints daily changing murals across the nave.
Beyond its religious significance, Sagrada Família has become a symbol of Barcelona itself – testament to Catalonia’s artistic heritage and resilience. Locals often refer to it affectionately as “lo Temple” or simply “la Sagrada.” It anchors the Eixample neighborhood and is the focal point of countless postcards and travel memories.
The basilica’s image – part scaffolding, part sublime architecture – reminds us that great achievements can take time. In a fast-paced world, Sagrada Família is the rare project measured in generations. As one architecture historian noted, Sagrada Família is “the most extraordinary personal interpretation of Gothic architecture since the Middle Ages.”
It bridges the past and future of architecture, melding medieval cathedral grandeur with modern engineering verve. Each visit offers a chance to witness progress: a new stone sculpture here, a freshly completed tower there. Few monuments offer visitors the privilege to see history unfolding in real time as Sagrada Família does.
Visiting the Sagrada Família
For travelers – especially history and architecture enthusiasts – La Sagrada Família is an absolute must-visit in Barcelona. It’s not just a monument frozen in time; it’s a construction drama you can step into.
Here’s how to make the most of your visit to this ever-evolving basilica:
Tickets & Tours
Due to the basilica’s immense popularity, advance tickets are highly recommended. Nearly 5 million people visit each year, and same-day tickets often sell out quickly.
Tickets are timed-entry; you can book online up to 2 months ahead. Standard admission (which includes a comprehensive audioguide app) is about €26 (discounts for students, under-30s, seniors).
For a deeper dive, consider the guided tour option (€30) led by official guides in English and other languages. True architecture buffs might opt for a ticket with tower access (€36), which allows you to ascend one of the finished facade towers (by elevator) for panoramic views.
Keep in mind tower tickets are limited and are the first to book out – if they’re unavailable on the official site, joining a reputable guided tour can sometimes secure you a spot.
On-site ticket booths exist but are not recommended except off-season; lines are long and you can only buy for the same day (no advance sales in person).
When to Visit
Early morning or late afternoon are ideal times to visit. Crowds are thinnest right at opening (around 9:00 AM) and in the late afternoon (the last two hours before closing).
Midday sees peak tourist groups and can feel quite crowded. If you crave the magical stained-glass light show, time your visit according to the sun. Morning light (9–11 AM) pours through the eastern Nativity windows in cool hues of blue and green, while late afternoon sun (after ~4 PM) ignites the western Passion windows in fiery oranges and reds.
The effect around golden hour is spectacular – the interior glows as if aflame. As an added bonus, most large tour groups depart by late afternoon, so you’ll enjoy a more contemplative atmosphere.
Also, note that Mondays tend to be very busy (since many other museums are closed, tourists flock here), and weekends see larger crowds than mid-week. If possible, aim for a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday visit for a bit more breathing room.
Tours vs. Independent Visit
Even without a guide, the experience is deeply engaging thanks to the excellent audioguide (available via a smartphone app in multiple languages, included with standard ticket). It narrates the symbolism and history as you move through the basilica at your own pace.
However, expert-led tours can add an extra layer of insight – you’ll hear anecdotes about Gaudí’s life, the meaning behind obscure details, and the latest construction updates.
Many travelers find a guided tour enriches their appreciation of this complex site. If you prefer flexibility, do an independent visit with the audioguide, and don’t miss the small museum in the basement afterward.
This museum displays scale models and artifacts from Gaudí’s workshop, including fragments of his original plans rescued after the Civil War. It’s a fascinating peek into how Gaudí and present-day architects have tackled the engineering puzzles of the Sagrada Família.
You’ll also find Gaudí’s crypt chapel down below (where the architect is interred), which can sometimes be visited or at least viewed through glass during basilica hours.
Ongoing Construction
One of the most unique aspects of visiting Sagrada Família is seeing a world-famous monument mid-construction. Don’t be surprised to find sections draped in netting or to hear the distant hum of drills – the work is carefully cordoned off and won’t impede your tour.
In fact, most visitors find it thrilling to watch artisans at work high above, adding pieces to the towers. As of 2025, the main visitor entrance is on the Passion Façade side (west side of the basilica), since the Glory Façade remains unfinished.
You’ll exit on the Nativity Façade side, so you get to see both completed facades up close. It’s worth walking all the way around the block to view the basilica from every angle – each facade is dramatically different.
Large cranes currently rise from the central core; they inevitably appear in photos, but they are part of Sagrada Família’s story.
Tip: for a clever photo, you can frame shots to hide some cranes behind towers, or embrace them as a symbol of the basilica’s living progress!
The ongoing construction does mean a few areas are off-limits: you can’t access the Glory Façade front yard yet, and tower access might occasionally close if work is happening overhead.
Nonetheless, the interior and finished exteriors are fully accessible and as stunning as ever. If anything, seeing the mix of old and new – 19th-century stone next to fresh carvings – will give you a profound appreciation for the history you’re witnessing. By evening, construction pauses, and the basilica’s exterior is beautifully illuminated.
If you’re in the area after dark, take a moment to admire the Virgin Mary’s star twinkling atop her tower – a recent addition that now lights up the Barcelona night sky.
Visitor Etiquette & Miscellaneous
Remember this is an active church as well as a tourist site. Dress modestly (covered shoulders, no swimwear – standard church norms) out of respect. If you’re interested in attending Mass, the basilica holds an international mass most Sunday mornings and special masses on holy days – these are open to the public for free (check the official calendar).
Security checks are in place at entry (similar to airport style), so travel light to pass through quickly. Once inside, keep voices low – the soaring space inspires quiet reverence despite the crowds. Photography is allowed (and you’ll be tempted to snap away at the rainbow light flooding the nave), just ensure your flash is off and avoid obstructing others.
Finally, take your time. A typical visit lasts 1.5 to 2 hours, but fans of architecture might linger longer. There are benches inside to sit and contemplate Gaudí’s genius from different perspectives – for example, sit near the altar to gaze up at the branching roof columns, or near the Glory Façade doors to watch sunlight cascade through the windows.
Sagrada Família is one of those places where, as poet Joan Maragall wrote, “a temple that will never be finished, that is constantly becoming.” Take a moment to simply soak in the atmosphere of a monument that is at once historic and still in the making.
Epilogue
Visiting Sagrada Família is an experience that transcends the typical tourist checklist. It’s a pilgrimage through time and imagination. Where else can you stand under scaffolds and century-old vaults in the same breath?
As the scheduled 2026 completion nears, excitement in Barcelona is building (quite literally). The basilica’s president, Esteve Camps, has vowed that “we will finish Gaudí’s work” – and for the first time, that finish line is in sight.
When the last piece is placed and the final crane comes down, the Sagrada Família will stand not only as the tallest church in the world, but as a triumphant ode to human tenacity and creativity.
For now, the cranes still dance above the spires each day, and visitors have the rare privilege to observe this living masterpiece grow. In the morning light, you might see stonemasons dangling high above, aligning a new mosaic on a tower.
By afternoon, you’ll hear the organ’s notes echo during a prayer service, reminding you that this is, after all, a place of worship and living faith. And as dusk falls, you can watch that crystalline star on Mary’s tower flicker to life, heralding another Barcelona evening.
History buffs will relish every moment – knowing that the story of Sagrada Família, begun in 1882 and carried forth by generations, is approaching its next grand chapter. One day, you’ll be able to say “I visited Sagrada Família while it was still being built.” And that, truly, is witnessing history in the making.
