FROM up there, the view is breathtaking. To the east, rolling waves lap a wind-swept expanse of marble-white sand; to the west, verdant hills loom above the sprawling metropolis below.
At nearly 163 metres above ground level, this is the tallest church tower in the world. But it will not be until March next year, when a glazed-ceramic silver cross is mounted at its summit, that the spire will rise in full majesty above the streets of Barcelona.
The Tower of Jesus is the final, monumental addition to architect Antoni Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia – one of the city’s signature landmarks, and its creator’s lifelong obsession until his death in 1926, when he was fatally struck by a tram.
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Gaudi now rests in the basilica’s crypt. And next year, a century to the day after his passing and 144 years after construction began, his church is finally expected to be complete – or at least, symbolically so.
Workers are racing against the clock to install the Virgin’s cross atop the Tower of Jesus and strip away the scaffolding by June 10, 2026, when Pope Leo XIV will celebrate mass in the Sagrada Familia in honour of the centenary of Gaudi’s death.
The cross, a four-armed structure nearly 17 metres tall, is crafted from iron, glazed ceramic, and glass.
Its subtle double-twist geometry mirrors Gaudí’s fascination with spiralling forms. The installation of this luminous crown will be the defining moment of the basilica’s final phase – and once in place, the Sagrada Familia will reach its intended height of 172 metres.
To meet the tight deadline, builders are combining state-of-the-art engineering with centuries-old craftsmanship.
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Prefabricated sections of the tower and cross are assembled offsite, then carefully aligned and lifted into place by precision cranes.
Digital modelling guides each move with millimetric accuracy, while masons and artisans attend to every sculptural flourish, every glazed-ceramic tile, ensuring that the tower stands not only secure but true to Gaudi’s vision.
The Virgin’s cross will mark a symbolic milestone, but the basilica will not be entirely complete until the Glory Facade is finished – a project now slated for the 2030s.
This vast and intricate facade, intended as the principal entrance, depicts the human journey from sin to redemption. Its sculptures illustrate death, judgment, and the heavenly glory of Christ – in a moving narrative that guides worshippers toward the main nave.
Curiously, despite the excitement that next year’s milestones are generating, Gaudi never intended the Sagrada Familia to be ‘finished’ in the conventional sense.
He imagined it as a living monument, a testament to humankind’s striving toward the divine – a work that would grow, evolve, and change over generations.
Yet as 2026 approaches, architects and builders are pushing every limit to honour the legacy of the man whose imagination shaped Barcelona itself.
Whether the Sagrada Familia will ever be truly complete remains a question without answer – a mystery as enduring as its spirals and vaults that erupt toward the sky.
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