Why did the Sagrada Família take 144 years to build?

The Sagrada Família is almost complete - but why has it taken more than a century to get here? On the 100th anniversary of the death of the church's architect Antoni Gaudí, Pope Leo XIV is due to bless the Tower of Jesus Christ - the 566 foot spire that officially makes the Sagrada Família the world's tallest church. [Subscribe to our Substack newsletter: https://channel4news.substack.com/subscribe] But its history goes back even further than Gaudí, as construction actually began 144 years ago. And even with the completion of the massive spire, the church is still not completely finished. To learn more about the history of the Sagrada Família, and importantly why construction has taken so long, we speak to Tristram Carfrae and Steve McKechnie, the structural engineers behind the Sagrada’s finishing touches. ------- Get more news at our site - https://www.channel4.com/news/ Subscribe to our Substack newsletter: https://channel4news.substack.com/subscribe Follow us: TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@c4news Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/channel4news/ Twitter - https://twitter.com/Channel4News Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/Channel4News/