Barcelona’s Sagrada Familia church, Antoni Gaudi’s masterpiece, isn’t finished yet, but it’s just become the world’s tallest church, pushing about 10 meters past the previous record-holder, Germany’s Ulm Minster.
The mark was set with the placement of the first element of the 17-meter high cross that tops the Jesus tower, the tallest of the basilica’s 18 towers, bringing its total height to 162.91 meters against Ulm’s 161.53. When the final elements are installed, the tower will rise to 172.5 meters.
That work is expected to be complete for next year’s 100th anniversary of Gaudi’s death, and will mark completion of the final tower, although other interior and exterior work will carry on until about 2035. The work began in 1882.
The title of tallest church has changed hands a number of times in the past couple of hundred years. Strasbourg Cathedral had the longest run, from 1647 to 1876 when it was overtaken by Rouen Cathedral, which only held the title for four years before it was surpassed by Cologne. Cologne held the title for ten years before surrendering to Ulm.
