Barcelona cathedral Sagrada Familia finally gets completion date

No trip to Barcelona is complete without a visit to Antoni Gaudi's La Sagrada Familia. Photo / Getty Images

A hundred and 44 years after construction started, Catalonia’s most famous work in progress has a completion date, with construction to wrap up on Gaudi’s Barcelona cathedral.

It’s arguably the world’s most famous building site, which for over 140 years has dominated the skyline.

Now, as the final six spires near completion, the end is in sight for Sagrada Familia.

“The Chapel of the Assumption is expected to be finished in 2025, and the tower of Jesus Christ in 2026,” the cathedral told CNN.

Despite being incomplete, the basilica has been a major draw for tourists and was made a Unesco world heritage site in 2005.

The tower of Jesus Christ will top off the monumental construction at 172.5m, making it the tallest church and overtaking Ulm Minster in Germany. Atop this final spire will be a 17m cross.

When the finish date comes, the Sagrada Familia will have survived several disasters including financial crises and the Spanish Civil War. Photo / Getty Images

Architect Antoni Gaudi, who began the project in 1888, had a vision for 18 towers, each representing holy biblical figures — 12 apostles, four evangelists, the Madonna and Jesus.

Unfortunately, he never saw it to completion, being run down by a Barcelona city tram in 1926 at the age of 73. The completion date is to align with the centenary of his death.

When the finish date comes, the Sagrada Familia will have survived several disasters including financial crises and the Spanish Civil War. Construction has also ploughed on through scathing criticism from the likes of George Orwell, who called it “one of the most hideous buildings in the world”.

Antoni Gaudi's Sagrada Familia is lit up on the 150th anniversary of his birth in 2002. Photo / Reuters

Milestones in Barcelona’s slowest construction site

1883: Antoni Gaudi takes over from Francisco Villar as architect.

1885: The Chapel of Saint Joseph was inaugurated in the crypt. The first masses are conducted.

1888: Ground is broken for construction.

1891: Work begins on the Nativity Facade.

1925: Saint Barnabas Bell Tower on the Nativity Facade completed. The only structure Gaudi saw completed before his death

1936: Vandals destroy plans, photographs, and models of the basilica during the Spanish Civil War.

1939: Francesc de Paula Quintana takes over site management.

1952: The Nativity Facade stairway is completed.

1954: Foundation laid for the Passion Facade.

1961: Museum is created on the site of the basilica for tourists.

1976: Passion Facade bell towers are completed.

1978: Construction of the facades on the side naves begins.

1983: Francesc Cardoner i Blanch takes over.

1985: Jordi Bonet i Armengol is named head architect and site manager.

1986: Josep Maria Subirachs is commissioned to make the sculptures for the Passion Facade. Work begins on the foundations for all the naves, the columns, vaults, and facades on the main nave, transepts, crossing, and apse.

2005: The Nativity Facade and the crypt are declared Unesco World Heritage sites.

2010: Pope Benedict XVI consecrates the temple, officially opening it for religious worship and given the status of a minor basilica.

2012: Jordi Fauli takes over as head architect and site manager.

2016: Construction begins on the towers of the evangelists, the Virgin Mary, and Jesus Christ.

2018: The cross is placed on top of the Passion Facade.

2020: The construction stops for nine months due to Covid-19 in March 2020.

2021: On December 8, the tower of the Virgin Mary is inaugurated and construction of the tower of Jesus continues.

2025: Chapel of the Assumption projected to be completed.

2026: Completion of construction with the tower of Jesus Christ in time for the centenary of Gaudi’s death.