After 144 years, the Church of Sagrada Familia has completed the Tower of Christ, with Pope Leo XIV blessing the a landmark project for Spain and Barcelona. <\/p>\n
The completion of the Tower of Jesus Christ<\/strong> in Sagrada Familia<\/strong> marked a historic moment for Barcelona<\/strong> and for one of the world’s most iconic monuments. In a solemn ceremony, the Pope Leo XIV<\/strong> blessed the highest part of the basilica envisioned by Andoni Gaud\u00ed<\/strong> 144 years ago, in the presence of King Felipe VI<\/strong>, Queen Letitia<\/strong>, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez<\/strong>, hundreds of bishops and tens of thousands of worshippers. <\/p>\n With a height of 172.5 metres<\/strong>, the tower now makes the Sagrada Familia<\/strong> the tallest church in the world and the tallest building in Barcelona. The ceremony culminated with a spectacular light show<\/strong>, fireworks and drones that formed the shape of Gaudi and the phrase “love first, technique later”. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n Veiem per primera vegada la torre de Jesucrist il-luminada! – La Sagrada Fam\u00edlia (@sagradafamilia) June 10, 2026 <\/p><\/blockquote>\n During the solemn mass, Pope Leo XIV<\/strong> described the basilica as “much more than a monument”, stressing that it remains a work in progress<\/strong>, like Christian life itself. <\/p>\n The Pontiff stressed that the Christian journey<\/strong> is never complete, and sent a message against conflict, noting that “we cannot believe in a Jesus who wants war or the killing of innocents.” <\/p>\n The visit coincided with the 100th anniversary of Gaud\u00ed’s death<\/strong>, with the Pope paying tribute to the Catalan architect, describing his work as “an architectural masterpiece of stone, colour and light”. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n Pope Leo XIV blessed the tower of Jesus Christ, the central event of the Gaud\u00ed Year and one of the most significant milestones in the recent history of the Basilica. At 172.5 metres in height, this tower becomes the highest point of the Basilica and makes the Sagrada Fam\u00edlia the… pic.twitter.com\/VyP8BBITwo <\/p>\n – La Sagrada Fam\u00edlia (@sagradafamilia) June 10, 2026 <\/p><\/blockquote>\n Beyond its impressive architecture, the Familia Sagrada Familia<\/strong> is full of symbolism and hidden messages. In the Passion Front<\/strong>, the famous numerical square stands out, where the sum of each row, column and diagonal equals 33<\/strong>, symbolizing Jesus’ age at the Crucifixion. <\/p>\n Among the sculptures and biblical representations is a small lavyrinthine symbol<\/strong>, referring to maintaining faith when a person feels lost. <\/p>\n The more attentive visitors can also spot the figure of Gaudi himself<\/strong>, who is shown symbolically watching Christ’s march to Calvary. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n Un momento hist\u00f3rico para la Bas\u00edlica de la Sagrada Fam\u00edlia. As\u00ed hemos vivido la misa solemne presidida por el Papa Le\u00f3n XIV y la posterior bendici\u00f3n e inauguraci\u00f3n de la torre de Jesucristo. – La Sagrada Fam\u00edlia (@sagradafamilia) June 10, 2026 <\/p><\/blockquote>\n Beneath the imposing temple lies the underground crypt<\/strong>, where rests Andoni Gaud\u00ed<\/strong>, who died in 1926 after being injured in a tram accident. <\/p>\n His tomb is now a place of pilgrimage for thousands of visitors and worshippers. The Vatican<\/strong> has already recognized Gaud\u00ed as “Venerable”, while the process that could lead to his consecration<\/strong> remains ongoing. <\/p>\n It’s worth noting that the basilica only gained official construction license<\/strong> in 2019, some 137 years after its foundation. <\/p>\n One of the temple’s most important technical achievements is based on the principle of the aluminium arch<\/strong>, a concept that has its roots about 1.500 years ago. <\/p>\n Gowdy observed the shape that a chain creates when it hangs freely and realized that its inverted form provides excellent static strength<\/strong>. Based on this logic, he designed the characteristic columns that resemble tree trunks and branch upwards. <\/p>\n The result is an interior space that resembles a stone forest<\/strong>, able to support the weight of the complex’s 18 towers without the external supports found in many Gothic cathedrals. <\/p>\n Modern extensions also utilize pre-stressed stone panels<\/strong> and steel tendons to reduce the weight of the structures and increase their resistance to high winds. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n \ud83d\udcfa TV en DIRECTO | As\u00ed ha sido el espect\u00e1culo de luminoso en homenaje a Gaud\u00ed para inaugurar la nueva torre de la Sagrada Familia https:\/\/t.co\/lUGOsi78sS pic.twitter.com\/vhCAqx5YcB<\/p>\n – EL PA\u00cdS (@el_pais) June 10, 2026<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Today, artificial intelligence<\/strong> and drones are used to monitor the condition of the monument and identify potential damage, facilitating its maintenance. <\/p>\n The temple is also home to lesser-known treasures, such as a huge natural shell from the Philippines<\/strong> used as a holy water vessel, but also important papal vestments<\/strong>, including those used by Pope Benedict XVI during the inauguration of the temple in 2010. <\/p>\n A family of hawks<\/strong> has been nesting in the towers of the basilica for more than twenty years, helping to maintain the ecological balance of the area. <\/p>\n Despite the historic milestone of the completion of the Tower of Christ, the Familia<\/strong> Shrine<\/strong> is still not fully completed. Construction of the impressive Facade of Glory<\/strong>, which will form the main entrance to the temple, is expected to continue for another decade or so. <\/p>\n Meanwhile, the debate continues over whether the modern interventions faithfully follow Gaud\u00ed’s original vision<\/strong>. However, the project’s lead architect, Gordi Fauli<\/strong>, argues that the plans and instructions left by the creator are sufficient to complete the basilica exactly as he envisioned it. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \n After 144 years, the tower of Christ has been completed in the church of Sagrada Familia, with Pope Leo XIV blessing the landmark work for ..<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10162,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10161","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10161","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10161"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10161\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/10162"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10161"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10161"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10161"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
L’espectacle de llum iniciat des de la base fins a la il-luminaci\u00f3 de la creu ha culminat amb una composici\u00f3 de llums guiats per drons, que han dibuixat la figura Gaud\u00ed i la frase “primer l’amor, despr\u00e9s la t\u00e8cnica”. pic.twitter.com\/J5SQxXD4s5 <\/p>\nThe Pope’s blessing and message of peace<\/h2>\n
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The symbols and riddles of the temple <\/h2>\n
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\u00a1Gracias a todas las personas que nos hab\u00e9is acompa\u00f1ado! \ud83d\ude4c pic.twitter.com\/nnxO1VMsXt <\/p>\n Gaud\u00ed’s tomb and the path to canonization<\/h2>\n
The ancient secret behind static strength<\/h2>\n<\/h2>\n
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The hidden treasures and loose ends <\/h2>\n