Sagrada Família celebrates Gaudí's death centenary with inauguration of Tower of Jesus Christ

Barcelona's most famous landmark, the Sagrada Família, an unfinished basilica by architect Antoni Gaudí, will celebrate the centenary of the death of the mastermind behind the project with the inauguration and blessing of the Tower of Jesus Christ.

Events will take place between May and July 2026, and further details will be announced closer to the time, as managers of the construction company behind the construction announced on Thursday morning during a press conference inside the basilica.

'The Dream of a Genius' program will start in October with the opening of the academic year of the Ateneu Universitari Sant Pacià. The program will include a mass presided over by the Cardinal and Archbishop of Barcelona, Joan Josep Omella i Omella. He was one of the cardinals in this year's conclave to elect Pope Leo XIV.

The mass will coincide with the centenary of the Tower of Sant Bernabé, the only tower Gaudí saw completed before his death on June 10, 1926.

Following the educational event, there will be a large concert bringing together three prestigious children's choirs: Escolania de Montserrat, Copenhagen Boys Choir, and the German Tölzer Knabenchor of Bavaria.

The concert will "celebrate the beauty of choral music and the union of cultures through the voices of the young," a statement released by the Sagrada Família reads.

The centenary celebrations will be "a very special event," Esteve Camps, chairman of the Sagrada Família board of constructors, said during the press conference. "The announcements mark an important step towards the completion of the basilica," he added.

Open doors and "diverse" events calendar

During its annual press conference ahead of the 'open doors' events coinciding with La Mercè, Sagrada Família showed a part of the Chapel of the Assumption, one of the sites still under construction.

This will be one of the significant spots, aside from the Tower of Jesus Christ, where all hands will be focused during the basilica's construction. In fact, around 20,000 people who won one of the free tickets to access Sagrada Família during La Mercè open doors will be able to see one of the sculptures that will be installed inside the Chapel of the Assumption.

This year, 97,000 people registered for the raffle for free tickets.

The open day is one of the first events of a full year ahead for Sagrada Família, including the Any Gaudí (Gaudí Year), organized by the Catalan government to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the architect's death.

It will all start in the southern municipalities of Reus and Riudoms, both of which claim to be Gaudí’s birthplace, although there is no definitive evidence confirming which of the two towns the architect was actually born in. 

Meanwhile, Sagrada Família will schedule around 60 activities. Aside from the mass presided by Omella, there will be another mass on June 10, 2026 to honor Antoni Gaudí, on the actual anniversary of his death, "to pay tribute to the architect’s spiritual and artistic legacy, remembering him in the place where he devoted much of his life."

The event will also see members of the Tarraconense Episcopal Conference, musicians, choirs from across Catalonia, and will be a moment to remember, and "to pay tribute to one of the greatest geniuses in the history" of Catalonia.

Sagrada Família will also take an important role during the 2026 Tour de France Grand Départ as the team's presentations will occur outside of the church. The basilica will also play an important role during the 2026's Architecture Capital event.

Other activities scheduled between October 2025 and December 2026 are exhibitions on several topics, such as one to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the completion of the Tower of Bernabé, named "Gaudí's first testimony at the Sagrada Família."

Meanwhile, in April next year, the Palau Robert Gardens will host a photographic exhibition: 'La Sagrada Família and Barcelona, 144 years of shared journey.' The exhibit traces a shared chronology between the church and the city that has watched it grow over several generations.

The basilica has launched the website sagradafamilia2026.org to explain further details of the Sagrada Família's history and the planned activities.

All these events will be fully financed by donations and sponsors from different organizations who back the church's celebrations, as the CEO of the construction company, Xavier Martínez, announced during the press conference.

Tower finished in 2026, visits still to be announced

The board of construction of the Sagrada Família expects to place the last part of the cross that will top the Tower of Jesus Christ between January and February of next year. 

Managers believe they will be ready to take down the scaffold ahead of June's mass to honor Gaudí's death.

Once completed, however, Sagrada Família authorities said that the inauguration of the tower will only include the exterior of the cross, so it will not be ready for visitors yet.

In fact, they estimate that visits will start in 2027, but they still do not have a clear plan on how access will work.

Visitors will be at a height of 165 meters when visiting the cross. The tower itself will measure 172.5 meters tall, and is already the tallest building in the Catalan capital's urban area.

Pope Leo XIV visit

Asked about a potential visit by the newly appointed Pope Leo XIV to the Sagrada Família, chairman Esteve Camps said that they have made the request and it is already in the Vatican, pending a response.

The proposal could mean inviting the Pope to preside the mass on June 10, 2026, however, nothing has yet been planned as there is no actual confirmation.

If a visit is confirmed, they believe they could start announcing details during the last days of September or in October.