Cologne Cathedral

Cologne Cathedral (German: Kölner Dom, pronounced [ˌkœlnɐ ˈdoːm] ^ⓘ, officially Hohe Domkirche zu Köln^[4], English: High Cathedral Church at Cologne) is a cathedral in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia belonging to the Catholic Church. It is the seat of the Archbishop of Cologne and of the administration of the Archdiocese of Cologne. It is a renowned monument of German Catholicism and Gothic architecture and was declared a World Heritage Site in 1996.^[5][6] It is Germany's most visited landmark, attracting an average of 6 million people a year.^[7] At 157 m (515 ft), the cathedral is the tallest twin-spired church in the world, the second tallest church in Europe after Ulm Minster, and the third tallest church of any kind in the world.^[8]

Construction of Cologne Cathedral began in 1248 but was halted in the years around 1560,^[9]. Attempts to complete the construction began around 1814 but the project was not properly funded until the 1840s. The edifice was completed to its original medieval plan in 1880.^[10] The towers for its two huge spires give the cathedral the largest façade of any church in the world.

Cologne's medieval builders had planned a grand structure to house the reliquary of the Three Kings and fit for its role as a place of worship for the Holy Roman Emperor. Despite having been left incomplete during the medieval period, Cologne Cathedral eventually became unified as "a masterpiece of exceptional intrinsic value" and "a powerful testimony to the strength and persistence of Christian belief in medieval and modern Europe".^[6] In Cologne, only the telecommunications tower is higher than the cathedral.^[5]