Meet the Man Who Built a Cathedral with His Own Hand, Donates same to God

More than 50 years ago, Justo Gallego started building a church on land he inherited. The epic project is still ongoing today.

 

Justo Gallego

Justo Gallego was born in 1925 in Mejorada del Campo, 40km east of the Spanish capital Madrid. He joined a monastery in a nearby town at age 27, where he remained as a monk for eight years before he was struck with tuberculosis and had to leave for fear of getting others sick.

Since he could no longer serve God as a monk, Gallego decided to build a cathedral on his family property. His request for a building permit was ignored as authorities didn’t think he was serious about the project. But Gallego continued nonetheless, beginning construction in 1961 with no permission and no experience. 

 

The Cathedral

Photographer Rodolfo Contreras recently spoke to Gallego about the cathedral, which is known locally as the ‘Cathedral of Justo’, and was struck by how grand the building was.

“I’m no expert in architecture, but the cathedral looked as if it was designed and built by professionals,” he said. “Nothing gave the impression that it was constructed by someone with no formal training in architecture or stonemasonry.” 

 

Gallego, whose education was interrupted by the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s, took his inspiration from books and photographs of castles and cathedrals. There was never a formal plan for the structure, but it was most heavily influenced by the Romanesque style, which features columns and rows of arches.

He used his family inheritance to purchase materials for the foundations, and drove around town collecting discarded bricks to reuse. 

 

 

For many years, Gallego did the brunt of the work himself, occasionally receiving some help from his young nephews in exchange for paying their school fees. As such, Cathedral of Justo has turned into a lifelong project. The largest of the 28 domes that line the structure is about 40m in diameter and took 30 years to complete. It’s Gallego’s favourite part of the cathedral. (Credit: Rodolfo Contreras)

 

The cathedral is the only big project Gallego has ever pursued in his life. He’s never once considered abandoning it, and he cannot see himself ever doing anything else. He still wakes up before dawn every morning to work on the construction– save for Sundays, when he attends morning mass instead.

 

 For the last 20 years, Gallego has been joined by local resident Ángel López, who took a liking to the project and wanted to help. Among other things, López created the stained glass and painted all 28 domes, despite having no previous experience with either. Now that Gallego is 91, López also does most of the heavy lifting. He will inherit the project and be in charge of finishing it one day. 

 

A donation to God

In his will, Gallego is leaving Cathedral of Justo to the Catholic Church, who he says is happy with his creation. The Church will only accept his donation, however, if he receives the building permit he’s been pursuing. Gallego hopes that his cathedral will one day serve as a functioning church, and wants to be buried on the site after his passing.

 

The cathedral is far from being finished. The frame, structure and domes have been built, but there is still plenty of work to be done on the interior, which is mostly bare. López told the photographer that he will likely need extra helping hands. Plus, finishing the interior will require financing that he and Gallego currently do not have.

As it stands, there is no indication of when Cathedral of Justo will be completed. (Credit: Rodolfo Contreras)

 

 

 Source....BBC..

March 03, 2017