One year with a new star in the skies over Barcelona
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On 8 December 2021, the Sagrada Família inaugurated the tower of the Virgin Mary with a mass as the central event and, afterwards, the blessing of the tower and the first lighting of the star on the second-tallest tower, which had just been completed. Now it has been a year since the world first saw the star atop this tower shine, and now it is illuminated every day along with the Nativity and Passion façades. This December 8, 2022, the interior of the tower of the Virgin Mary will be lit up from 6:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.
The Basilica celebrated this historical milestone with a programme of events that, for the first time in the history of the Basilica, included a city ceremony inside the Temple on the morning of 8 December. The central event was held later that day: a religious service coinciding with the Feast of the Immaculate Conception and the end of the Year of Saint Joseph, led by Cardinal Joan Josep Omella i Omella, Archbishop of Barcelona. After the mass, the tower was blessed and the star lit for the first time, all of which was streamed live around the world.
This year the Sagrada Família has finished the first two towers of the Evangelists, Luke and Mark, which will be lit up for the first time on 16 December, as the Basilica’s traditional Christmas Concert lets out. With this, three of the six central towers are now complete and the other two towers of the Evangelists, John and Matthew, are expected to be finished in 2023 and the central tower of Jesus, in 2026.