After more than 130 years of construction, Barcelona's most popular tourist attraction is finally almost done
The Neo-Gothic design was initially being planned by the architect Francisco de Paula del Villar y Lozano, the first architect to work on ideas for the church.
Famous Spanish architect Antoni Gaudí took over the design of the Sagrada Família in 1883 and continued until he died in an accident in 1926. He is considered the main architect of the church.
Many challenges have come up in the progress of construction. Gaudí's designs were incredibly complex and expensive, and the Spanish Civil War completely halted progress in the late 1930s. This is how the church appeared in 2004.
Now, in 2015, it's getting much closer, but we're still a little over a decade away from its scheduled completion. The church is surrounded on all sides by residential buildings.
On this day in April, it was illuminated in blue to mark World Autism Awareness Day.
The interior is massive and wide, with high, arching pillars.
It's evident that an amazing amount of attention and detail has been put into the church's ceiling.
The main projects left to complete are the west sacristy, the central towers, and the Tower of Jesus, which will eventually be crowned with a cross 557 feet above the ground.
Tourism is the largest contributor to the welfare of Spain's economy.
Barcelona's authorities are constantly figuring out how to control the number of tourists in the city. Millions visit each year.
But besides donations from private individuals, tourists pay a large portion of the estimated $27 million it costs to work on the cathedral's construction each year. It costs about $16 to get inside the Sagrada Família, or $21 to get in with a guide.
Employees have been busy working on the final phase of construction.
"A church is the only thing worthy of representing the soul of a people, for religion is the most elevated reality in man," Gaudí has been quoted as saying.
Source: The Guardian
When he was still alive, Gaudí was often criticized for how long it was taking to build the church. "My client is not in a hurry," he would reply, referring to God.
The scheduled completion of the building for 2026 aligns with the 100-year anniversary of Gaudí's death — a fitting tribute to his vision.
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