The Sagrada Família illuminates Barcelona's new star

In Barcelona, any milestone achieved by the Sagrada Família is etched into the imagination of its citizens, already tired of making jokes about the possible completion date of the basilica. This Wednesday will be marked in Barcelona's history as the inauguration day of the Virgin Mary tower, the first to be completed in the last 44 years and, temporarily, the tallest of the temple.

The new tower, which has monopolized all the efforts of the construction board during 2021, has as its most characteristic element a 12-pointed star, which lets light pass through during the day and illuminates at night. The lighting of the Virgin Mary star has been the culmination of a day of activities that has welcomed the city's new symbol. The brand new star of the Catalan capital began to shine this Wednesday at 7:50 PM, after different parts of the tower had been illuminated since last Saturday. Despite the strong wind, a large number of people gathered around the basilica to witness this moment live, hoping that it won't take so long to inaugurate another tower.

The lighting day began with a popular culture festival, another historical event, as it was the first time that the temple hosted such a civic celebration inside. Gegants, capgrossos, castellers and sardanes enlivened the morning to the rhythm of the Cobla de Sant Jordi, which performed two works by Enric Morera, a contemporary of Antoni Gaudí.

One of the main protagonists was the Àliga de Barcelona, always accompanied by the city's gegants, Jaume I and Violant d'Hongria. The Gegantona Crespinella also snuck in, recognizable for having one of the temple's towers ---the Crespinella--- as her face and trencadís on her dress. Although she was the most akin to the event, she played a discreet role, like Pere and Pepa, the gegants from around the temple, those from the Sagrada Família neighborhood.

The popular celebration, with a total of 2,000 in-person spectators, was attended by the President of the Generalitat, Pere Aragonès, and the cardinal and archbishop of Barcelona, Juan José Omella. For the cardinal, the Sagrada Família, which this Wednesday became "the center of Barcelona and of the whole world," represents a symbol that unites all Barcelonans and makes them work together, and which, from now on, will send a message of hope through the light that the new star will emit, saying that "the world does not end with the pandemic and difficulties, everything continues." The day was completed with a mass at 6 in the afternoon, presided over by Omella, and the blessing ceremony of the tower, on Marina street. Even Pope Francis participated in the celebration, with a message from Rome for those who are going through a bad time, to whom he said that the star shines for them.

A star of glass and steel

From a central core formed by pentagonal faces, the pyramids that make up the arms of the star emerge. Each point measures 2.9 meters and the total diameter of the star is 7.5 meters. Made of glass and steel, it weighs 5.5 tons. The glass has been designed with textures to play with light and generate reflections. The star appears to be suspended in the sky, but rests on three concrete and trencadís supports that emerge from the tower of the Virgin Mary, where it was placed last November 29.

As Gaudí imagined it, the Sagrada Família is now crowned by a luminous star. Located above the apse of the temple, the star must also serve to illuminate the altar with the light that filters through the 800 windows that make up the tower. During the day it lets in the sun's rays, while LED spotlights in each of its arms illuminate the sky at night. It still needs to be defined, but it is expected that the new tower can be visited from its base, taking into account that it is empty inside.

The tower of the Virgin Mary is one of the six central towers that will make up the basilica, which will eventually have 18 in total. In the future, the tower inaugurated this Wednesday will be accompanied by four towers dedicated to the Evangelists, each 135 meters high and topped by sculptures of their symbols ---the man, the lion, the ox, and the eagle---. The tower of the Virgin Mary will slightly surpass them in height, at 138 meters, while awaiting the completion of the tower of Jesus Christ, which will measure 172.5 meters and will be the tallest. Respecting Gaudí's criterion, the maximum height of the basilica will be lower than that of Montjuïc mountain, since, as the architect said, the work of man cannot surpass that of God.