From Le Figaro with AFP
Published 2 hours ago, updated 2 hours ago
The Evangelist Towers of the Sagrada Familia are illuminated for the first time after a blessing ceremony to mark their completion. JOSEP LAGO / AFP
To celebrate the progress of work on the basilica, the Archbishop of Barcelona on Sunday blessed the structures in the central part of the building, which were illuminated for the first time.
The famous Basilica of the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona celebrated on Sunday November 12th in the light of the light the end of the construction of the Evangelist Towers, with which the monument approaches the end of its construction that began 141 years ago.
The last two of these four 135-meter-high towers, dedicated to the evangelists Matthew and John, were completed at the end of September, with the installation of the giant white figures in the form of a human bust and an eagle that crown them respectively. The other two, dedicated to the evangelists Luke and Mark and decorated with figures of an ox and a lion, were completed last year. The remarkable basilica by the Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí thus completes the ensemble dedicated to the Evangelists, which will be the third highest tower of the church when completed.
To celebrate the event, the Archbishop of Barcelona, Juan José Omella, blessed these structures in the central part of the basilica on Sunday afternoon, which were then illuminated for the first time. After the completion of the Marienturm, which at 138 meters will be the second tallest tower in the basilica when completed, and the Evangelist complex in 2021, only the tower of Jesus Christ for the main relief remains to be completed. The tower, designed by Gaudí, is said to be the highest point of the Sagrada Família at 172.5 meters. The developers plan to complete the Tower of Christ in 2026, a date that coincides with the 100th anniversary of the architect’s death.
Read also: In Barcelona, the four towers of the Sagrada Familia dedicated to the Evangelists are finally completed
The basilica’s construction committee had originally announced that the basilica would be fully completed by 2026, but the Covid-19 pandemic slowed the project. “If we don’t have a problem as big as the pandemic, the Sagrada Família will be finished in a maximum of ten years,” the president of its board of directors, Esteve Camps, told local newspaper La Vanguardia on Sunday.
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