13 Facts About La Sagrada Familia You Should Know

La Sagrada Familia has been under construction for longer than almost any other building on earth. Here's the real story behind it, in plain facts.

1. Construction began March 19, 1882 — the cornerstone was laid under the original architect, Francisco de Paula del Villar, working in a neo-Gothic style.
2. Antoni Gaudí took over in 1883, a year into the project, and reworked the design into the organic, nature-inspired style the building is known for today. He spent over 40 years on it — the last 12 living on-site.
3. Gaudí never saw it finished, and neither has anyone else — construction has now run for more than 140 years, largely because the basilica has always been funded by private donations and ticket sales rather than government money, so the pace of building has always depended on how much money comes in.
4. The tallest tower reaches 172.5 meters (566 feet), making it the tallest church building in the world once finished — the Tower of Jesus Christ, completed structurally in February 2026.
5. Gaudí's design calls for 18 towers in total: 12 for the apostles, 4 for the evangelists, 1 for the Virgin Mary, and the tallest for Jesus Christ. As of 2026, most of the central towers are complete.
6. There are three facades, each telling a different part of the story: the Nativity Facade (Christ's birth, largely built under Gaudí himself between 1894 and 1930), the Passion Facade (Christ's death, built from 1954 with sculptures by Josep Maria Subirachs from 1987), and the Glory Facade (Christ's glory, under construction since 2002 and intended as the main entrance).
7. It's a real, working basilica, not just a monument — Pope Benedict XVI consecrated it on November 7, 2010, and it holds regular Mass.
8. The Nativity Facade and crypt are a UNESCO World Heritage Site, recognized in 2005 as part of the "Works of Antoni Gaudí" listing.
9. The interior columns branch like trees — they lean and split at calculated angles to carry the weight of the vaulted ceiling, so walking through the nave feels like standing in a stone forest with a canopy of light overhead.
10. Stained glass floods the interior with shifting color through the day, following the sun as it moves from the Nativity side to the Passion side of the building.
11. Gaudí is buried inside it — in the Chapel of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, in the crypt, following his death in 1926.
12. Interior completion is expected around 2028, with the Glory Facade — including a planned grand staircase that would require clearing part of an existing city block — still the subject of ongoing public debate in Barcelona.
13. Every ticket sold genuinely funds construction — visitor admission remains one of the basilica's main sources of funding, more than a century after it started.

Curious what these facades and towers actually look like up close? See our guide to Sagrada Familia's highlights, or read about the 11 secrets and mysteries hidden throughout the building .