The works on the Jesus Christ tower of the Sagrada Familia are advancing, and this Tuesday the fourth horizontal arm of the great cross that will crown the temple has been placed, according to the official portal sagradafamilia2026.org.
The cross —central piece of the tower’s finial— will follow Gaudí’s characteristic double-twist geometry and will be formed by large-sized elements: each arm weighs approximately 12.8 tons and measures around 4.40 x 4.50 x 4.50 meters. Once finished, the cross will reach 17 meters in height (approximately a five-story building) and 13.5 meters in width.
The placement of the cross’s arms confirms the progress of the central tower’s finial, the tallest in the temple. The cross, conceived by Gaudí as a luminous element, is called to become the great visible sign of Christ’s centrality over the basilica and the city.
Theological Conferences: Architecture, Trinity, and Centrality of Christ
In parallel to the material progress, the basilica has inaugurated a cycle of theological conferences to deepen the Christian meaning of the temple and Gaudí’s project. In the first session, the director architect Jordi Faulí and the philosopher and theologian Francesc Torralba intervened, with a reflection centered on the Jesus Christ tower as the axis of the whole.
Faulí explained that the tower, located in the center of the temple, culminates the system of eighteen towers devised by Gaudí and that its architecture develops from the intersection of twelve paraboloids, uniting form, structure, and symbolism. He also emphasized that the great cross, conceived as a luminous element, expresses the centrality of Christ and Gaudí’s will that the tower project light over the city “day and night”.
Torralba, for his part, presented the Sagrada Familia as a “total work of art” that reflects Gaudí’s spirituality, nourished by Christian theology and liturgy. He highlighted the symbolic value of the tower as an element that “unites heaven with earth”, and explained the Trinitarian reading of the interior, organized in three levels: creation, essence of God, and the Cross, culminating in God’s maximum donation to humanity.
A Milestone Linked to Gaudí’s Centenary
The culmination of the Jesus Christ tower is presented as a historical milestone for the Sagrada Familia and a homage to the architect Antoni Gaudí, in the context of the centenary of his death and preparations for the upcoming visit of Leo XIV to Spain.