For 144 years, the running joke about the Sagrada Família was that it would never be finished. On 10 June 2026 — a century to the day after Antoni Gaudí died — that joke quietly ended. Pope Leo XIV led a solemn Mass beneath the completed Tower of Jesus Christ, the tallest of the basilica’s eighteen spires and the last to rise. Barcelona’s skyline has a new summit, and Gaudí’s church has, at last, reached its full architectural shape.
What happened at the papal inauguration?
On the morning of 10 June 2026, Pope Leo XIV presided over a solemn Mass inside the basilica and blessed the newly completed Tower of Jesus Christ. The date was chosen with care: it fell exactly one hundred years after Gaudí’s death, turning the ceremony into both a consecration and a centenary tribute. Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, was among the dignitaries present. That evening a large-scale light show wrapped the central tower, projecting colour across its stone and glass and turning Gaudí’s final spire into a beacon visible across Barcelona. For a building defined by a century of scaffolding, it was a rare moment of pure spectacle.
Is the Sagrada Família finished now?
Not entirely — and the distinction matters. What the June ceremony marked is the completion of the basilica’s architectural volumes: with the Tower of Jesus Christ topped out, the building has reached its designed silhouette for the first time. The external work on that central tower finished on 20 February 2026, when a crane lifted the upper arm of its crowning cross into place. Fourteen of the planned eighteen towers now stand.
The work is far from over. The interior is being finished through 2027 and 2028. The monumental Glory Façade on the south side — four more towers, a grand staircase and the basilica’s future main entrance on Carrer de Mallorca — will occupy builders for roughly another decade. Reports that the Glory Façade is complete are premature; it is the single largest task still ahead. Gaudí, asked about his slow pace, is said to have answered: “My client is not in a rush.”
How tall is the Tower of Jesus Christ?
The central tower reaches 172.5 metres, making the Sagrada Família the tallest church in the world. Its twelve-sided shaft was built from October 2018 using a tensioned-stone system that threads steel through the masonry, letting the slender profile Gaudí drew carry its own weight. Crowning it is a four-armed cross, 17 metres tall and 13.5 metres wide, clad in glass and white enamelled ceramic over a stone core. The cross is hollow: a chamber inside opens 180-degree views across the city. Its parts were made in workshops across Catalonia and assembled in Germany in 2025 before travelling to Barcelona.
What is the Lamb of God sculpture inside the cross?
At the heart of the upper arm sits an Agnus Dei — the Lamb of God — by the Italian artist Andrea Mastrovito. Gaudí had imagined a luminous figure at the centre of the cross. Mastrovito’s lamb hangs ringed by slanted golden rays arranged in the hyperboloid geometry Gaudí used throughout the building, so that daylight and artificial light scatter outward from the summit. Seen from the street, the effect reads less as ornament than as a lantern.
Why does 2026 matter for Gaudí?
Antoni Gaudí took charge of the project in 1883, a year after the first stone was laid, and gave the rest of his life to it. He died in 1926, struck by a tram, with the church a fraction of its planned size. He had finished only the crypt, the apse and part of the Nativity Façade — the section that, with the crypt, has been UNESCO World Heritage since 2005. The centenary of his death handed the building team a deadline with rare emotional weight, and they delivered its most symbolic piece. Jordi Faulí, the chief architect, called the finished cross “much more than the culmination of a phase of construction.”
Can you visit the new tower in 2026?
Access to the cross’s interior viewing chamber is being prepared as the last scaffolding comes down through 2026. The basilica itself stays open to visitors during construction, as it has for decades: 4.87 million people came in 2025. A standard adult ticket costs €26, and that money funds the build directly — the project has never taken public money, relying on visitors and private donation. In summer, timed-entry tickets sell out days ahead.
- Book timed-entry tickets at least a week in advance for July and August.
- Early morning light favours the Nativity Façade on the east side; late afternoon suits the Passion Façade on the west.
- The tower lifts and the rooftop are separate, limited-capacity tickets — add them at booking, not on the day.
Where to see more of Gaudí in Barcelona
The Sagrada Família is the keystone of a city dense with Catalan Modernisme. Gaudí’s Casa Batlló and Casa Milà (La Pedrera) line the Passeig de Gràcia, and Park Güell crowns the hills to the north. CHO’s guide to Barcelona and the Catalan Modernisme maps the movement across the city, and Reus, an hour south, marks the architect’s birthplace.
A century after his death, Gaudí finally has the skyline he drew. The decoration will go on for years. The shape, for the first time, is whole.
Sources
- Basílica de la Sagrada Família — official press materials on the Tower of Jesus Christ and its cross (sagradafamilia.org)
- Catalan News — “Sagrada Família reaches final height of 172.5 metres as cross is installed” (2026)
- The Art Newspaper — coverage of the tower’s inauguration and remaining works (June 2026)
- CNN Style — “Sagrada Família’s 144-year journey nears its end” (June 2026)
- Vatican News — completion of the central tower (February 2026)