Barcelona’s Sagrada Familia reaches its maximum height after more than a century

BARCELONA, Spain — Barcelona’s towering Sagrada Familia basilica reached its maximum height on Friday, though the magnum opus of Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí remains years away from completion.

A crane placed the upper arm of a cross atop the Tower of Jesus Christ, the church’s soaring central piece, which now stands 566 feet above the city.

With Friday’s addition, the Sagrada Familia inched closer to being done. The unfinished monument became the world’s tallest church last year after another part of its central tower was lifted into place.

The first stone of the Sagrada Familia was placed in 1882, but Gaudí never expected it to be completed in his lifetime. Only one of its multiple towers was finished when he died at the age of 73 in 1926, after being hit by a tram.

In recent decades, work has sped up as the basilica became a major international tourist attraction, with