Sagrada Família History: From 1882 to the Tower of Jesus in 2026

The Sagrada Família was begun on 19 March 1882 to a neo-Gothic design by Francisco de Paula del Villar. Antoni Gaudí took over in 1883 and worked on it until his death in 1926. Pope Benedict XVI consecrated it as a basilica on 7 November 2010, and the cross went up on the central tower of Jesus Christ on 20 February 2026, a century after Gaudí died.

In short

• 1882: first stone. 1883: Gaudí takes over, aged 31.
• 1926: Gaudí dies after a tram accident and is buried in the crypt.
• 1936: fire in the crypt and workshop; plans and models damaged.
• 2010: consecrated as a basilica. 2026: the tower of Jesus Christ reaches 172.5 m.

The full timeline

1. 1882

   The first stone

   On 19 March 1882, the bishop of Barcelona lays the cornerstone of a neo-Gothic church designed by Francisco de Paula del Villar, paid for by donations.

2. 1883

   Gaudí takes over

   Antoni Gaudí, 31, replaces Villar and starts to rethink the whole project, from a crypt already under way to a church of light, nature and symbols.

3. 1914

   Only the Sagrada Família

   Gaudí stops taking other work and devotes himself to the Temple, eventually living in his workshop on the site.

4. 1926

   Gaudí dies

   Struck by a tram on 7 June, Gaudí dies on 10 June 1926, aged 73. Only one bell tower of the Nativity façade is finished. He is buried in the crypt, and Domènec Sugranyes takes over.

5. 1936

   Fire in the workshop

   At the start of the Spanish Civil War the crypt and Gaudí’s workshop are set on fire. Drawings are lost and plaster models smashed; architects later piece the fragments back together.

6. 1954

   The Passion façade begins

   Work starts on the west façade, from a drawing Gaudí made in 1917. Its bell towers are completed in 1976, and Josep Maria Subirachs carves its angular sculptures from 1987.

7. 2005

   World Heritage

   UNESCO lists the Nativity façade and the crypt among the Works of Antoni Gaudí.

8. 2010

   Consecrated as a basilica

   On 7 November 2010, Pope Benedict XVI consecrates the church and makes it a minor basilica. The nave, roofed at last, opens for worship.

9. 2021–2023

   Mary and the Evangelists

   The tower of the Virgin Mary (138 m), crowned by a lit star, opens in December 2021; the four towers of the Evangelists (135 m) follow in November 2023.

10. 2026

    The tower of Jesus Christ

    The cross is placed on the central tower on 20 February 2026, a century after Gaudí’s death. At 172.5 m it makes the basilica the tallest church in the world. Pope Leo XIV blesses it on 10 June 2026.

A church built by donations

The Sagrada Família is an expiatory temple: from the start it was funded by gifts from ordinary people, not by the state or the Church. That is one reason it took so long, and why it slowed almost to a stop in hard years. Today ticket sales pay for the work. It is managed by the Junta Constructora del Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família (the basilica’s building board).

Gaudí’s 43 years

Gaudí was 31 when he inherited a crypt that Villar had already started. He kept the crypt and the plan of a Latin cross, but turned everything else upside down. Over four decades his design moved from a refined Gothic to something entirely his own:

• No flying buttresses. He tilted the columns so that they follow the lines of force, like branches, and the building holds itself up.
• Geometry from nature. He built the nave and windows from ruled surfaces (hyperboloids, paraboloids, helicoids) that he saw in bones, trees and shells, and that masons could build with straight lines.
• Models, not plans. He worked in plaster models and hanging-chain models more than in drawings, knowing he would not finish. From 1914 he worked only on the Temple, and ended up living in his workshop on site.

He completed only one bell tower of the Nativity façade. On 7 June 1926 he was hit by a tram on his way to church, and died three days later, aged 73. He lies in the crypt.

The fire of 1936

At the start of the Spanish Civil War, the crypt and Gaudí’s workshop were set on fire. Drawings were lost and plaster models smashed. After the war, his followers glued the fragments back together, and those reassembled models, now in the museum, guided the work for decades.

The second century

Work restarted in the 1950s. The Passion façade went up from 1954, following a drawing Gaudí made in 1917, with sculptures by Josep Maria Subirachs from 1987. Computer modelling, adopted from the 1990s, finally made Gaudí’s complex geometry fast to calculate and cut. The nave was roofed in time for the consecration in 2010.

Then came the great central towers: the Virgin Mary (138 m, inaugurated on 8 December 2021), the four Evangelists (135 m, inaugurated on 12 November 2023), and the tower of Jesus Christ, topped with its cross in February 2026 and blessed by Pope Leo XIV on 10 June 2026. At 172.5 m, it makes the Sagrada Família the tallest church in the world.

Is it finished?

Not yet. The Glory façade, the future main entrance on Carrer de Mallorca, and parts of the decoration are still to come, along with a long-debated stairway over the street. Expect cranes in your photos for some years. In total the basilica will have 18 towers: twelve for the apostles, four for the evangelists, one for Mary and one for Jesus.

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