Visitors to Barcelona may notice something different in the city’s most iconic building. The tower of the famous Sagrada Familia cathedral is decorated with a colossal 12-pointed star.
A steel and glass structure known as the Star of Bethlehem was installed on the tower of the Virgin Mary in Gaudí’s famous Basilica last week. According to the Sagrada Familia Foundation: “A large luminous star has changed the skyline of Barcelona and is rising up to bring light and hope.” The star weighs 5.5 tons, has a diameter of 72 meters and cost 1.5 million euros.
The Virgin Mary Tower is the first to be completed on the building since 1976. Consisting of 800 windows, each of which will glow blue and resemble the cloak of the Virgin Mary when the star is officially unveiled on December 8th.
The foundation has invited people from all over the world to take part in the illumination, which will begin on December 4th. The base of the tower of the Virgin Mary will be lit first, and in the following days the lighting will rise higher and higher, culminating in the lighting of the Star of Bethlehem on December 8 at Mass, which will be celebrated by the Archbishop of Barcelona, who said that the completion of the tower is “a historical moment after a year of darkness and relentless struggle. ”
When will the construction of the Sagrada Familia be completed?
The tower of the Virgin Mary will be joined by five more towers, which are currently under construction. When completed, the building will become the tallest church in the world. The Sagrada Familia was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2019 and construction was expected to be completed in 2026, the centenary of the death of architect Antoni Gaudí, but its completion was delayed due to construction being suspended during the blockage. COVID-19.
The Sagrada Familia is considered the most prominent example of Catalan modernism and Gaudí’s most famous work in a city dotted with his designs. Its construction has been going on for over 140 years.
Gaudí set out to build a church that reflects the three phases of the life of Jesus Christ: Christmas, passion and glory. However, work came to a halt when the architect died under the wheels of a tram in 1926. After his death, several architects tried to decipher his complex geometric designs and continue the project, but work was halted several times and part of the church was destroyed by fire during the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s. Funding has been a problem for years, but construction is now being funded by thousands of anonymous donations from around the world. Today, the building is the most photographed piece of architecture in Barcelona. In pre-conservative times, the Sagrada Familia received over 60,000 visitors every day.