Construction began in 1882 under the architect Francisco de Paula del Villar. Antoni Gaudí took over the next year, transformed the design, and devoted his final decades to it. When he died in 1926, the basilica was only 15 to 25 percent complete.
Gaudí conceived the interior as a forest: columns branch like trees to carry the vaults, and stained glass washes the nave in colored light. In 1936, during the Spanish Civil War, fire damaged the crypt and partly destroyed his original plans, and later architects have worked from what survived.
Pope Benedict XVI consecrated the church as a minor basilica in 2010, and its Nativity facade and crypt are part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Funded by donations and visitor tickets, construction continues. In 2026 the central Tower of Jesus Christ reached 172.5 meters, making it the tallest church in the world.
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