Even during the opening ceremony, Teun Verberne and Jordy Kern – two graduate students who supervised the project with their supervisor Arno Pronk – were still in a man lift to cut the rope structure from the opening of the highest tower in the dome. It was supposed to be thirty meters high, but it was never finished. However, the smaller towers, both 21 meters, were good for a new record. On Saturday morning at 4 a.m. local time the team had stopped adding water-and-sawdust mixture (pykrete) onto the framework representing the famous church by Gaudí. The balloon that served as a mold for the dome was removed right after that.

The opening ceremony on Saturday was attended by 1,400 paying attendants, says Pronk. “Many more than I had expected. I believe tickets were ten euros.” From now on, a ticket to see the Sagrada are five euros, and that includes access to a small igloo and ice rink, and a sledding course for children. On Sunday, the day after the opening, approximately 600 people visited the site.

The construction is expected to remain until the end of March. Pronk, Kern and Verberne might return before that to measure the construction once more and possibly finish the highest tower with the assistance of Finnish volunteers.