Home / Trivia / Buildings & Engineering
Which cathedral took over 600 years to finish?
Construction ran from 1248 to 1880.
UNESCO dates the start of construction to 1248 and the completion to 1880, a span of about 632 years, and describes the work as taking place in several stages. The cathedral was meant to house and honor the Shrine of the Magi, a very large medieval reliquary completed between about 1180 and 1225, which UNESCO calls the largest in Europe. Its presence drew pilgrims and gave the city a strong reason to build on a grand scale.
The building rose in the French Gothic style. Work on the choir progressed first, and the western part, including the nave and transept, was begun around 1330. Construction then slowed and eventually stopped for a long period, and the unfinished tower stood for centuries, famously topped by a medieval crane. In the nineteenth century interest in the Gothic revival, along with the rediscovery of the original medieval plans, led to a campaign to complete the cathedral, and it was finished in 1880.
The finished western facade has two towers that reach about 157 meters according to UNESCO's data, which made the cathedral among the tallest structures in the world at the time. A popular claim is that the building has never stopped being under construction because of ongoing repairs. Maintenance and restoration work do continue, but that is separate from the main building campaign, which is dated 1248 to 1880. Other cathedrals, such as Sagrada Familia, took or are taking longer, so it is more precise to say that Cologne's is a famous long-duration project rather than a unique record.