(Barcelona) The Basilica of the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona will inaugurate on December 8 the Tower of the Virgin Mary, a 138-meter structure crowned by a large star of glass and stainless steel, which will be the second tallest in the building once completed.
Before the inauguration of the structure, the ninth of 18 towers designed by modernist architect Antoni Gaudi, a 5.5-ton star will be climbed to its summit on November 29.
It will be necessary to wait until December 8, day of the Immaculate Conception (public holiday in Spain) at 7.40 p.m. to see it light up for the first time.
This star which cost 1.5 million euros and composed of resistant materials to resist the sun’s rays “will have 12 projectors in its center, in each of its points, and will thus shine like a new star in the sky of Barcelona” , described to the press Jordi Fauli, the chief architect of the Sagrada Familia.
PHOTO JOSEP LAGO, FRANCE-PRESS AGENCY
Before the inauguration of the structure, the ninth of 18 towers designed by modernist architect Antoni Gaudi, a 5.5-ton star will be climbed to its summit on November 29.
As for the tower, “it is the second tallest in the Sagrada Familia and the ninth that will be built. With it, we are halfway through the towers ”to be erected, added Mr. Fauli.
“Then there are the other five central towers: that of Jesus Christ (the highest, Editor’s note) and those of the four evangelists, whose work has already begun”.
The finalization of the works and their financing are however linked to the resumption of tourism, given that the construction of the basilica depends on donations, sponsorships and tickets sold to visitors, much less numerous with the pandemic.
Although the flow of tourists has resumed, it remains below pre-COVID-19 levels.
“We will not return to the 2019 level before the end of 2023 or the beginning of 2024,” says Xavier Martinez, the general manager of the group responsible for the construction of the Sagrada Familia.
Designed by the Catalan architect Antoni Gaudi, the Sagrada Familia, Barcelona’s most visited monument, was listed in 2005 as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Its site, which began in 1882, was supposed to end a century after the architect’s death, in 2026.
The consortium must meet at the end of 2022 to provide a new estimate of the date for the completion of the site.