07/26/2026
These two photos were taken less than a century apart.
In the 1930 image, the Sagrada Família had just four completed towers, all belonging to the Nativity Façade. Antoni Gaudí had died only a few years earlier, and much of his vision still existed only in drawings and models.
Now compare it with 2026.
The basilica has grown to 14 completed towers, including the four Evangelist towers, the Virgin Mary Tower, and the towering Jesus Christ Tower, which now rises 172.5 meters (566 feet) above Barcelona.
Look at the very top.
The monumental 17-meter (56-foot) cross—installed in 2026—is something no generation before ours had ever seen. It marked the external completion of the Tower of Jesus Christ exactly 100 years after Gaudí's death and transformed the city's skyline once again.
And the story isn't over.
The final four Apostle towers above the Glory Façade are still to come. When they're finished, the Sagrada Família will finally have the 18 towers Gaudí envisioned more than 140 years ago.
One photo shows Gaudí's dream in its early years.
The other shows just how close that dream has come to becoming reality.
