Construction of the Sagrada Familia started roughly 125 years agoPhotograph: GettyGaudí spent 40 years overseeing work on the building but it was far from finished when he died in 1926Photograph: Murdo MacleodJordi Bonet, aided by a sculptor and a team of 40 builders, went to work on finishing the edifice after Gaudí's deathPhotograph: Toni Albir/EPA
Josep Maria Subirachs worked on the building's west facade, which depicts the passion of ChristPhotograph: Tibor Bognar/CorbisClose-up of the door of the passion facadePhotograph: Sutton-Hibbert/Rex FeaturesGaudí refused to stick to a blueprint during construction, preferring to make changes as work progressedPhotograph: PhotoDisc/GettyGaudí's original plans were also badly damaged by anarchists during the Spanish civil warPhotograph: Barry J Holmes/Rex FeaturesTourists look at the Sagrada Familia from the roof of Barcelona's La Pedrera building in 2002, the 150th anniversary of Gaudí's birth. Photograph: Santiago Lyon/APThe building's design incorporates spirals, such as this bell-tower staircasePhotograph: Kevin Foy/Rex FeaturesIn 2005, the Sagrada Familia was joined on the Barcelona skyline by the Agbar (Aguas de Barcelona) tower, designed by French architect Jean NouvelPhotograph: Cesar Rangel/AFPA group of Spanish artists and architects fear that the final version of the Sagrada Familia will bear little resemblance to Gaudí's visionPhotograph: Grant Faint/Getty
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