The Sagrada Familia locations the final piece of its tallest tower and reaches 172.5 meters | News from Catalonia | EUROtoday

This Friday, the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona positioned the final piece of its tallest tower. Since 9 within the morning, the massive crane has labored to deposit the higher arm of the cross that crowns the tower of Jesus: the piece has been hooked by 4 pink cables, it has waited suspended on a roof of the temple, and at 10:38 a.m. it has begun to rise. Before 11 o’clock it was already on the prime of the tower, the place the employees have labored to repair it with 40 nuts which might be tightened with hydraulic jacks, defined the architect liable for the terminals, Mauricio Cortés. With the maneuver, the temple has reached 172.5 meters, its most top, and has modified the silhouette of town. The tower, the place the scaffolding nonetheless must be eliminated and the inside completed, shall be inaugurated on June 10, coinciding with the centenary of the loss of life of the architect Antoni Gaudí. For the anniversary, a go to by Pope Leo XIV, invited by the basilica, is anticipated, however the Vatican has not confirmed it.

The delicate maneuver was scheduled for final week, however the gale that hit the Catalan capital delayed it. It was not till this Friday that the wind gave a truce and the operation may very well be carried out, like all building work, with the presence of tourists inside and outdoors the temple. The building board has broadcast the operation dwell on its social media profiles: Tiktok, You Tube and Instagram, with plans made with a drone that may very well be seen from the road. A dozen employees have labored on the peak second, inside and outdoors the piece. At 1:00 p.m. the crane has collected the cables.

The architect-director of the Sagrada Familia, Jordi Faulí, has referred to as the day “historic” as a result of achievement in top of the tower of Jesus Christ with a cross that “will be resplendent” and with it, the six most vital towers (evangelists, Mary and Jesus Christ). “It is a day to remember those who today and in the past have made it possible for the Sagrada Familia to reach the top, from those who worked with Gaudí, those who have designed the cross from his drawings, architects, engineers; it has been a challenge to achieve a four-armed cross that is quite light and that can be visited inside,” stated the temple’s seventh architect excitedly. In the approaching weeks the scaffolding that covers the tower of Jesus shall be eliminated, however its inside won’t be able to be visited till 2028. “The façade of Glory is missing,” he warned about essentially the most controversial half dealing with the temple: the choice on whether or not residential buildings shall be demolished to construct an entrance staircase on Calle de Mallorca.

The higher piece of the cross of the tower of Jesus Christ had been ready for not less than two weeks on a roof of the temple, 35 meters excessive, the place the ultimate touches have been made: on its inside metallic construction and putting the glass in its openings. The mass, which weighs greater than 12 tons, has been positioned with the experience of crane driver José Encina, who works in a cabin 140 meters excessive with a increase that, absolutely deployed, reaches 200 meters. At the highest, climbers have been ready for him on the cross. The supervisor of all of the work, who coordinates a workforce of 150 folks, is the grasp builder Jaume Oromí, with whom this newspaper toured the roofs, hoists and scaffolding of the temple a number of weeks in the past.

During the morning neighbors may very well be seen leaning out of their balconies, and a specific amount of expectation because the crane suspended the massive piece. But you needed to be positioned at a sure top or distance to have the ability to admire the exact second of placement of the final arm of the cross, which was imperceptible from the sidewalk. Furthermore, earlier within the day, an ambulance donation occasion for Ukraine, with a dozen autos stationed in entrance of the basilica, precipitated some confusion amongst vacationers, and even the press, who thought that some accident had occurred. Where the best enthusiasm has been noticed throughout the fruits of the cross, nonetheless, has been within the feedback of the published on Instagram, with messages of congratulations and of a non secular nature.

In whole, the cross measures 17 meters excessive, the equal of a five-story constructing, and 13 meters extensive. It is white, ceramic, and Gaudí needed the solar to mirror on it and shine throughout the day. The cross has 15,000 ceramic items, taken from 500 totally different molds and 7 shades of white. In current months, the development board has labored on putting the decrease arm of the cross first (in November and October) and throughout the month of December and January the 4 arms have been positioned, which have been positioned on the 14th.

Since final October 31, when it reached 162.9 meters in top, the Sagrada Familia is the tallest church on the planet, relegating the Main Church of Ulm, in Germany. Unlike most buildings, within the greater than 140 years of building, the Sagrada Familia has not grown in top, however in phases. Before he died, Gaudí left the Nativity façade very superior and completed the Barnabas tower, to point out part of the temple and to proceed attracting donations. A century later, the complicated is virtually completed in top: the basilica, the façades of the Birth and the Passion (with sculptures by Josep Maria Subirachs), the towers of the apostles, these of the 4 evangelists, that of Mary (inaugurated in 2021) and, as of this Friday, the outside of that of Jesus.