Star now crowns tower of the Virgin Mary - Star now crowns tower of the Virgin Mary

Today, the Sagrada Família lifted the star of the Virgin Mary into place. This was a historic moment, as it is the final piece of the tower and changes the Barcelona skyline.

The star is 7.5 metres across, weighs 5.5 tons and was lifted into place fully assembled.

The weeks beforehand, work continued on assembling and connecting its nucleus, which is a dodecahedron, to the twelve pyramidal points of the star that stick out from each face.

Made of textured glass with a stainless-steel structure on the edges, by day the glass will be lit by the sun and by night, the light will come from the spotlights installed at the base of each point inside the star.

On 8 December, the tower of the Virgin Mary is scheduled to be inaugurated with the Mass, the blessing and the lighting of the star as the central act.

Check out the inauguration programme here