81 Year Old Spaniard Builds His Own Cathedral

Like 81 year old Justo Gallego, I have built a cathedral in my spare time with no architect or construction training. Also like 81 year old Justo Gallego, I have willed my cathedral to the Catholic Church when I die. However, unlike 81 year old Justo Gallego, my catherdral is constructed entirely from empty beer cans cemented together with the lubricating jelly from used condom wrappers. But Justo Gallego's home-made cathedral is a bit more picturesque. It also smells better...

With a metal-frame dome in striking blue reaching some 130 feet high, and a half dozen towers of broken red brick expected to go higher, the architectural mishmash and annexes lie on the edge of town, on part of about three square miles of land Gallego inherited from his parents.

Inside, as light and rain come through the incomplete arched roof of corrugated iron, the frail but awesomely agile Justo toils away, hauling buckets of material to the upper floors using a children's bicycle wheel for a pulley.

Buckets of gravel and bags of clay and cement lie around. Rusty scaffolding stretches precariously skyward. A bench is laden with candles, prayer cards and statues of the Virgin Mary. A giant collection box is full of donations from well-wishers.

Needless to say, in both of our cases, neither the local city council or the local bishopric are entirely thrilled with our home-built houses of God.

Hand-built 'cathedral' headache for town [Yahoo! News]