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In short
- Barcelona’s iconic church, the Sagrada Familia, could finally be completed in 2026, 144 years after construction began.
- This comes after several delays due to the architect’s death, the Spanish Civil War and the corona pandemic.
- Although the building will be ready in 2026, all details will not be finished until 2034.
- This includes major staircases which have caused controversy as they will require the relocation of around 1,000 families and businesses.
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First there was the death of the architect. Then there was the Spanish Civil War and more recently there was the corona pandemic.
There are several reasons why the Sagrada Familia church in Barcelona, designed by the famous architect Antoni Gaudí, has been postponed several times over the years.
Now the president of the organization for the church has set a new end date for when the iconic building will be ready, according to The Guardian.
Then it bangs
– The Sagrada Familia will be finished in 2026, President Esteve Camps said on Wednesday.
Then the church will be ready 144 years after the first stone was laid, and 100 years after Gaudí passed away.
Not quite finished
Camps states that they have both the money and the materials to complete the building, including the 172.5 meter long main spire, which will make the church the tallest building in Barcelona.
Purses out
Although the building is scheduled to be ready in 2026, not all details of the building will be ready by then.
Work on both sculptures and other decorative details, as well as the enormous stairs that will lead up to the main entrance, is scheduled to be ready in 2034.
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Controversial stairs
Over the years, the large stairs have caused a lot of controversy.
The stairs will be so large that they will fill two apartment buildings, which will lead to around 1,000 families and businesses having to be relocated.
Camps insists that the stairs were always part of Gaudí’s original drawings.
– We follow Gaudí’s plan to the letter, he stated.
Removed Airbnb “home”
– We are his successors and we cannot renounce his project. The plan submitted to the local authorities in 1915, signed by Gaudí himself, included the stairs, he added.
Furthermore, he states that they are in talks with the mayor of Barcelona, Jaume Collboni, and that it is the authorities who must make a final decision on whether the stairs can remain according to the original plan.
“Never Done”
The Sagrada Familia is considered one of the wonders of the modern world, but it has not always been this way.
The artist Salvador Dalí has described the church as “terrifying”, and the English poet and writer George Orwell considered the building “one of the ugliest buildings in the world”.
Will triple the price and ban this
The church is also often referred to as a project that will never be finished. The poet Joan Maragall referred to the church as “the poetry of architecture … a temple that will never be finished”.
War, bad economy and pandemic are just some of the reasons why the development has been postponed several times.
In recent times, tourism has largely financed the completion of the building. According to The Guardian, around five million people visit the church annually. Everyone pays 25-40 euros, which corresponds to between NOK 290 and 465 per visit.
