:GALLERY [displaystyle:travel] :INFO The Tallest Church on Earth, Complete at Last On 10 June 2026, Pope Leo XIV celebrated Mass inside a basilica that had been under construction for 144 years. The Tower of Jesus Christ, at 172.5 metres, had been completed in February, making the Sagrada Familia the tallest church in the world. Eleven popes reigned while it was being built. Antoni Gaudi, who took over the project in 1883, died in 1926, run over by a tram, without seeing a single tower finished. He said his client was in no hurry. He was right. :STATS :JOURNEY The 144-Year Build 1 Ambition 2 Vision 2 Crisis 1 Patience 3 Acceleration 4 Climax 5 Completion :QUOTE [quotetype:plain, subtitle:Antoni Gaudi] My client is in no hurry. | :NOTE Gaudi refused planning permission fees, telling officials the future generations who would benefit from the building would pay them. He was fined. He paid from his own pocket. :NOTE The 172.5-metre Tower of Jesus Christ was deliberately designed to be 5.2 metres shorter than the hill of Montjuic behind it. Gaudi believed no human work should exceed God's creation of the natural landscape. :LINK https://sagradafamilia.org/en/ Official Sagrada Familia site