The Sagrada Família in Barcelona was designed by Antoni Gaudí and consecrated as a minor basilica in 2010.
Construction began in 1882 under architect Francisco de Paula del Villar. Gaudí took over the project in 1883 and transformed it into an ambitious structure combining Gothic traditions with highly individual geometric forms, natural symbolism, and elaborate sculpture.
Pope Benedict XVI consecrated the building and proclaimed it a minor basilica on 7 November 2010. The church remained unfinished at that time, and construction has continued through changing teams, technologies, and funding from visitor donations.
The Sagrada Família has three principal façades: the Nativity, Passion, and Glory façades. Gaudí’s original plans and models were partly damaged or destroyed during the Spanish Civil War, so later architects had to interpret surviving material. Its unfinished status is therefore central to the building’s history, not evidence that it was abandoned.