{"id":65428,"date":"2026-06-10T23:48:18","date_gmt":"2026-06-10T21:48:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/?p=65428"},"modified":"2026-06-11T00:01:11","modified_gmt":"2026-06-10T22:01:11","slug":"basilica-of-the-sagrada-familia-in-barcelona-the-tallest-church-in-the-world-is-in-spain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/2026\/06\/10\/basilica-of-the-sagrada-familia-in-barcelona-the-tallest-church-in-the-world-is-in-spain\/","title":{"rendered":"Basilica of the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona: the tallest church in the world is in Spain"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>On this day in 1926, the architect Antonio Gaud\u00ed died in Barcelona, \u200b\u200bleaving his greatest and most beautiful work unfinished.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p><rel><a href=\"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/2025\/04\/18\/the-church-of-the-holy-sepulchre-in-jerusalem-the-place-where-christ-was-crucified-and-buried\/\">The Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, the place where Christ was crucified and buried<\/a><\/rel><br \/>\n<rel><a href=\"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/2025\/03\/27\/the-sanctuary-of-the-virgin-of-the-crown-a-spectacular-church-attached-to-a-cliff\/\">The Sanctuary of the Virgin of the Crown, a spectacular church attached to a cliff<\/a><\/rel><\/p>\n<p>Construction of the Sagrada Familia Basilica in Barcelona began in 1882. This Wednesday, coinciding with the centenary of Gaud\u00ed's death, <strong>Pope Leo XIV blessed the church's tallest tower, the Tower of Jesus Christ<\/strong>, which reaches 172.5 meters, surpassing Ulm Cathedral in Germany, which stands at 161.5 meters. <strong>Officially, Spain now has the tallest Christian temple in the world.<\/strong> The moment of the blessing can be seen here:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-media-max-width=\"665\">\n<p lang=\"es\" dir=\"ltr\">El Papa Le\u00f3n XIV ha bendecido la torre de Jesucristo, el acto central del A\u00f1o Gaud\u00ed y uno de los hitos m\u00e1s significativos en la historia reciente de la Bas\u00edlica. Con 172,5 metros de altura, esta torre se convierte en el punto m\u00e1s elevado de la Bas\u00edlica y convierte la Sagrada\u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/uOTauG4E16\">pic.twitter.com\/uOTauG4E16<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; La Sagrada Fam\u00edlia (@sagradafamilia) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/sagradafamilia\/status\/2064802404156178490?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 10, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.x.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><strong>The visual spectacle that has been organized after the blessing has been truly impressive<\/strong>, including an animated image of Gaud\u00ed formed with drones, along with part of some words spoken by him: <em>\"<strong>To do things well you need, first of all, love, and secondly, technique<\/strong>\"<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Bendici\u00f3n de la Torre de Cristo de la Bas\u00edlica de la Sagrada Familia de Barcelona\" width=\"665\" height=\"374\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/jro6vbj7v5k?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>This inauguration is a reminder of a Gospel passage that states that Christ is \"the light of the world\"<\/strong> (John 8:12). Ultimately, the purpose of all Catholic churches is not to honor their creators, but to honor God.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55327505619_38bccb51cb_o.jpg\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55327505619_a451eed669_c.jpg\" style=\"width:100%; height:auto; border:0px;\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>This church was at risk of not being finished.<\/strong> On July 21, 1936, a few days after the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, <strong>left-wing extremists<\/strong> stormed the church and set it on fire, desecrating the religious images and altars, destroying some of the furnishings, and <strong>burning down much of Gaud\u00ed's original workshop<\/strong>, where the plans and models of the church were kept. <strong>It was a great loss that hampered and delayed the construction of the basilica<\/strong>, which continued after the war. What happened then was an example of the extremes to which the anti-Catholic hatred of the left went during the Second Republic.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55327710990_a20ffa03f9_o.jpg\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55327710990_1d31973b8f_b.jpg\" style=\"width:100%; height:auto; border:0px;\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>This basilica was designed in Gaud\u00ed's distinctive modernist style.<\/strong> It has a total of 18 towers. The tallest of these, which culminates in a cross and was blessed today, is dedicated to Jesus Christ, and its interior is a viewpoint, scheduled to open to the public in 2028.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55326375702_57e9b038e8_o.jpg\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55326375702_854b2a2a98_b.jpg\" style=\"width:100%; height:auto; border:0px;\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>As for the other towers, one is dedicated to the Virgin Mary, four to the Evangelists, and twelve to the Apostles.<\/strong> The appearance of the church with all these towers is as if it rises towards the sky.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55327711000_478379759d_o.jpg\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55327711000_12e102c00a_c.jpg\" style=\"width:100%; height:auto; border:0px;\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>The basilica has over a hundred stained-glass windows of various colors<\/strong>, allowing the outside light to enter the temple and fill it with different chromatic tones. It is a church full of light.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55327505609_44306bb962_o.jpg\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55327505609_0cf31aae17_c.jpg\" style=\"width:100%; height:auto; border:0px;\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Regarding the delay in the construction of this church, Gaud\u00ed once said: <em>\"My client is in no hurry\"<\/em><\/strong> (referring to God). It is said that the architect stated before his death: <em>\"Nothing worth doing is worthwhile unless it is eternal.\"<\/em> <strong>Regarding his conception of architecture, Gaud\u00ed said: \"The straight line belongs to man, the curved line to God.\"<\/strong> This explains the forms of this impressive temple.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55327290136_6e87b59ef9_o.jpg\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55327290136_ccba250dea_c.jpg\" style=\"width:100%; height:auto; border:0px;\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>---<\/p>\n<p><small>Main image: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=fdf_jNY11V0\" target=\"_blank\">RTVE Noticias<\/a>. Photos: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/basilicasagradafamilia\" target=\"_blank\">Bas\u00edlica de la Sagrada Fam\u00edlia<\/a>.<\/small><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On this day in 1926, the architect Antonio Gaud\u00ed died in Barcelona, \u200b\u200bleaving his greatest and most beautiful work unfinished.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[23117,15961,10712,16886],"tags":[27225,720,27226,10703,10424,24398,11462],"class_list":["post-65428","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-1a-plana-exploring-eng","category-bloque-6-english","category-religion-eng","category-sacred-places","tag-antonio-gaudi","tag-barcelona","tag-basilica-of-the-sagrada-familia-in-barcelona","tag-catalonia","tag-catholic-church","tag-leo-xiv","tag-spain"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65428","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65428"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65428\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65428"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65428"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65428"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}