For more than 140 years, builders have been working on Barcelona's famous Sagrada Familia — and now LEGO is giving fans a chance to build their own miniature version of the world's newest and tallest basilica.
LEGO has released its largest Architecture series set ever: a 12,060-piece model of the Sagrada Familia, standing 24 inches tall when finished. The set costs $800 and will go on sale November 10th, the same day the real basilica opens to the public for the first time.
The timing is not a coincidence. This year marks both the completion of the actual basilica and the 100th anniversary of the death of its visionary architect, Antoni Gaudi. Construction on the Sagrada Familia began in 1882 under Gaudi's direction. He designed 18 tall, spindly towers meant to rise higher than any church in Europe. But his plans were lost when he died in 1926 after being hit by a tram. Workers had to figure out the rest on their own, piecing together clues through wars and difficult times.
"Our goal was to honor Gaudi's vision with the utmost respect, capturing the rhythm of the basilica's construction, its extraordinary complexity and ambition, and translating that into an immersive building experience," said LEGO Design Master Rok Zgalin Kobe in a press statement.
The LEGO model even captures one of the basilica's most famous features: the way natural light filters through its colorful windows. The set uses transparent bricks to recreate that magical glow. The final tower on the real basilica — featuring a four-armed cross honoring Jesus Christ — was completed in February, and an inaugural mass was held to celebrate.
The Sagrada Familia was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1984 even though it was still decades from being finished. Pope Benedict XVI consecrated the building for worship in 2010. Building permission was only officially granted in 2016, meaning the structure had technically been constructed illegally for over 100 years — though nobody realized it at the time.
The LEGO Architecture series has become a favorite for adult fans, recreating landmarks like the Eiffel Tower, New York City's skyline, and Rome's Trevi Fountain. This newest addition lets builders hold a piece of architectural history in their hands — a tribute to an architect who never got to see his greatest dream completed.