New towers lit up as Barcelona's Sagrada Familia nears completion

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The Sagrada Familia basilica's towers of the Evangelists are lit up for the first time. /Josep Lago/AFP

A celebratory light show graced the newest towers of Barcelona's Sagrada Familia basilica on Sunday night as the beloved attraction moves closer to completion – 141 years after construction started.

The final two of the four Towers of the Evangelists, 135 meters high and dedicated to Matthew and John, were finished in September with the addition of figures representing a human bust and an eagle. The other two, dedicated to Luke and Mark and crowned by cow and lion sculptures, were completed last year.

Archbishop of Barcelona Juan Jose Omella blessed the structures in the basilica before the light show kicked off. The towers will be the basilica's third highest once the site is completed. Only the Tower of Jesus Christ, designed by famous Catalan architect Antoni Gaudi to be the building's summit, remains unfinished.

The developers expect to finish the tower in 2026, coinciding with the 100th anniversary of Gaudi's death. The basilica's construction committee initially set a 2026 target to complete the entire basilica, but the COVID-19 pandemic set back the project.

The Sagrada Familia "will be finished in 10 years maximum" barring major problems, the head of the committee's board, Esteve Camps, told local newspaper La Vanguardia on Sunday.