With the illumination of the towers of the Evangelists Mark and Luke, the church of La Sagrada Familia begins the countdown to complete its construction in the next four years.
In this regard, those responsible for the basilica confirm that the aim is to complete the works to coincide with the centenary of the death of Gaudí, its creator.
Just a year ago, the Basilica welcomed Christmas by lighting the star that crowns Mary’s tower.
And today, in the final stretch to 2022, the star of the tower of the Virgin Mary no longer shines alone.
Since Friday, December 16, the sculptures of the ox and the lion in the towers of the evangelists Luke and Mark, respectively, have been lit.
The event took place after the traditional Christmas Concert at the church.
This is how the towers were presented to the city after their construction was completed. Thus, the Basilica already has three of the six central towers that were designed by the architect Gaudí.
The towers of the evangelists Mark and Luke are illuminated.
From now on, the new towers will be illuminated every evening until January 8, 2023, between 6 and 8 pm.
Likewise, during these dates, the sculptural groups of the Nativity, the Kings of the Orient on the Nativity façade and the Adoration of the shepherds will also be illuminated.
The next step is to complete the core of the central towers.
The goal is to finish the towers of Matthew and John by the end of 2023, to complete the set of the evangelists.
At the moment, the highest point of the temple (before being surpassed by the central tower of Jesus), is the central tower with 172.50 meters high, a measure that does not seek to exceed the height of the mountain of Montjuïc.
The architect Antoni Gaudí designed it this way out of respect for nature.
Symbolism of the towers of the evangelists
To identify which tower corresponds to each evangelist, each one ends at its tip with the corresponding figure of the tetramorph with the book and wings. Symbols in Christian iconography used for centuries to represent the evangelists.
In this sense, the sculpture of the ox culminates the tower of Evangelist Luke, and the sculpture of the lion, that of Evangelist Mark.
When the four figures of the tetramorph at the top of the towers of the Evangelists are completed, they will form a halo around the tower of Jesus Christ and the cross.
Tetramorph is a term that refers to the iconographic representation of the four Evangelists narrating the life of Jesus.
A man or angel for Matthew, a lion for Mark, an ox for Luke and an eagle for John.
