List of tallest church buildings

This list of tallest church buildings ranks church buildings by height. From the Middle Ages until the advent of the skyscraper, Christian church buildings were often the world's tallest buildings. From 1311, when the spire of Lincoln Cathedral surpassed the height of the Great Pyramid of Giza, until the Washington Monument was completed in 1884, a succession of church buildings held this title.

The tallest church building in the world is the Sagrada Família in Barcelona, which surpassed Ulm Minster (161.53m) on 30 October 2025 when its central tower reached 162.91m. The central tower reached the final height of 172.5m on 20 February 2026. The tallest completed church building in the world was formerly the Ulm Minster (161.53m), the main Lutheran congregation in Ulm, Germany. The tallest domed church building, and the tallest Catholic church until surpassed by Sagrada Família, is the Basilica of Our Lady of Peace (158m) in Yamoussoukro, Ivory Coast. The tallest cathedral as well as the tallest church building with two steeples is Cologne Cathedral (157.22m) in Cologne, Germany. The tallest domed cathedral as well as the tallest Eastern Orthodox is People's Salvation Cathedral (132m) in Bucharest, Romania. The tallest brickwork church building is St Martin's Church (130.6m) in Landshut, Germany. The tallest brickwork church building with two steeples is St Mary's Church (125m) in Lübeck, Germany. The tallest wooden church building is Săpânța-Peri Monastery church (78m) in Săpânța, Romania. The tallest church building in the Americas is the Cathedral of Maringá (124m) in Maringá, Brazil.

The cities with the most churches surpassing are Hamburg (5 of the 28 tallest churches, with 5 towers overall) and Lübeck (4 of the 55 tallest churches, two of which with twin towers → 6 towers overall), followed by Tallinn (2), St. Petersburg (2), New York City (2), Dortmund (2) and Stralsund (2).

The cities with the most churches surpassing are Berlin (16), Hamburg (9), Paris (8), Dresden (8), Vienna (7), Stockholm (7) and Munich (7), while in the Americas it is New York City (4).

Overview Timeline - the tallest church buildings of their time Tallest in years NameImage Historical height Increase Time span Current height City Notes1180–1240Malmesbury Abbey131.0 m (431.0 ft)60 years15.0 m (49.2 ft)MalmesburyThe spire and the tower it was built upon collapsed in a storm around 1500.1240–1311Old St Paul's Cathedral149.0 m (489.0 ft)13.7%71 years111.3 m (365.0 ft) ()LondonThe cathedral stood on the site of the present St Paul's Cathedral until 1666. Its spire existed until 1561.1311–1549Lincoln Cathedral160.0 m (524.9 ft)7.4%238 years83.0 m (272.3 ft)LincolnTallest ever building until 1890, only then was its original height surpassed by Ulm Minster; central spire collapsed in 15491549–1569St. Mary's Church151.0 m (495.4 ft)−5.4%20 years (94 years)104.0 m (341.2 ft)StralsundFirst mentioned in 1298; collapse of first tower in 1382; second, 151 metres (495 feet) tall spire finished in 14851569–1573Beauvais Cathedral153.0 m (502.0 ft)1.3%4 years47.5 m (155.8 ft)BeauvaisTower collapsed in 15731573–1647St. Mary's Church151.0 m (495.4 ft)−1.3%74 years (94 years)104.0 m (341.2 ft)StralsundSecond spire burned down after a lightning strike in 1647; current, third spire finished in 17081647–1874Strasbourg Cathedral142.0 m (465.9 ft)−6%227 years142.0 m (465.9 ft)StrasbourgFinished in 1439; tallest structure built and finished in the Middle Ages; earliest church to have been the world's tallest which still stands at its original height1874–1876St. Nicholas Church147.3 m (483.3 ft)3.5%2 years147.3 m (483.3 ft)HamburgBombed in 1943; demolition of most of the church in 1951; tower remains and serves as a war memorial1876–1880Rouen Cathedral151.0 m (495.4 ft)2.7%4 years151.0 m (495.4 ft)RouenChurch finished in 1506; its cast iron spire was built between 1825 and 1876; painted by Claude Monet1880–1890Cologne Cathedral157.4 m (516.4 ft)4.2%10 years157.4 m (516.4 ft)CologneOnly church with two main towers to ever have been the world's tallest1890–2025Ulm Minster161.5 m (529.9 ft)2.6%135 years161.5 m (529.9 ft)UlmFirst time since 1311 that a church surpassed the original height of Lincoln Cathedral; intentionally built a few metres taller than Cologne Cathedralsince 2025Sagrada Família172.5 m (565.9 ft)6.9%172.5 m (565.9 ft)BarcelonaConstruction began in 1882. Tallest church of all time.

Country and city list – churches ≥ 95 m (312 ft) Rank Country Churches≥ 95 m≥ 312 ft Tallest Rank City Churches≥ 95 m≥ 312 ft Tallest 1 38 161.5 1 Hamburg – 5 147.3 2 13 151.0 2 Lübeck – 4 125.0 3 11 141.5 3 Vienna – 3 136.4 4 + 10 136.6 4 Tallinn – 2 123.7 5 8 122.5 5 St. Petersburg – 2 122.5 6 7 124.9 6 New York City – 2 119.8 7 6 112.3 7 Stockholm – 2 116.0 8 5 136.4 8 Dortmund – 2 105.0 9 5 118.7 9 Melbourne – 2 105.0 10 4 123.1 10 Stralsund – 2 104.0 11 3 119.8 11 Munich – 2 98.6 12 3 102.3 12 Barcelona – 1 172.5 13 3 100.6 13 Ulm – 1 161.5142 172.514Yamoussoukro – 1158.0 15 2 124.0 15 Cologne – 1 157.4 16 2 123.7 16 Rouen – 1 151.0 17 2 113.0 17 Strasbourg – 1 142.0 18 2 112.0 18 Licheń Stary – 1 141.5 19 2 105.0 19 Vatican City (Rome) – 1 136.6 20 2 100.0 20 Bucharest – 1 135.0 21 1 158.0 21 Linz – 1 134.8 22 1 135.0 22 Landshut – 1 130.6 23 1 123.3 23 Novara – 1 126.0 24 1 115.0 24 Maringá – 1 124.0 25 1 108.4 25 Antwerp – 1 123.9 26 1 107.5 26 Riga – 1 123.3 27 1 107.2 27 Salisbury – 1 123.1 28 1 102.0 28 Uppsala – 1 118.7 29 1 97.8 29 Schwerin – 1 117.5 30 1 96.6 30 Rostock – 1 117.0 31 1 96.5 31 Freiburg – 1 116.0 32 1 96.0 32 Bruges – 1 115.6 Sum Earth 143 172.5 33 Quito – 1 115.0

Constructed

Church buildings ≥ 100 m (328 ft)

This list does not include church buildings that incorporate a significant portion of space to non-church uses, such as the Chicago Temple Building. It does not include structures from non-Christian religions.

Rank Name of Church Image Heightmetres (feet) Completed Location Country Christian denomination Coordinates Notes 1 Basilica of the Sagrada Familia m (566 ft) Barcelona Catholic World's tallest church; tallest Catholic church; the architect did not want the basilica to exceed the height of Montjuïc 2 Ulm Minster m (530 ft) Ulm Lutheran Tallest Lutheran church; spire's height originally intended to be shorter but increased in order to surpass Cologne Cathedral 3 Basilica of Our Lady of Peace m (518 ft) Yamoussoukro Catholic World's tallest domed church 4 Cologne Cathedral m (516 ft) Cologne Catholic Tallest building in the world 1880–1884; tallest twin tower façade; tallest cathedral in the world; place of the Shrine of the Three Kings 5 Rouen Cathedral m (495 ft) Rouen Catholic Tallest building in the world 1876–1880; tallest church in France 6 Strasbourg Cathedral m (466 ft) Strasbourg Catholic Tallest building in the world 1647–1874; tallest 15th-century structure in the world 7 St. Peter's Basilica m(448 ft) Vatican City Catholic The largest church building in the world both by internal area and volume 8 St. Stephen's Cathedral"Steffl" m (448 ft) Vienna Catholic Tallest church in Austria; tallest in the area of the former Austria-Hungary; home of the "Madonna of Pötsch" (Madonna von Pötsch); colloquially called "Steffl" 9 New Linz Cathedral m (442 ft) Linz Catholic Largest church in Austria by area, but two metres shorter than St. Stephen's Cathedral, Vienna since no building in Austria-Hungary was allowed to be higher than St. Stephen's Cathedral (also the reason why there are no taller churches in Budapest and Prague)  10 St. Michael's Church m (433 ft) Hamburg Lutheran Tallest 18th-century church in the world; Hamburg's most famous church; colloquially called "Michel" 11 St. Peter's Church m (433 ft) Hamburg Lutheran Hamburg's tallest completely preserved church 12 St. Martin's Church m (428 ft) Landshut Catholic Tallest brickwork structure in the world; tallest church in Bavaria 13 People's Salvation Cathedral m name=":11" (433 ft) name=":7"> Bucharest Eastern Orthodox World's tallest domed cathedral; tallest Orthodox church building; home of the largest free-swinging church bell in the world 14 Basilica of San Gaudenzio m (413 ft) Novara Catholic Tallest church in Italy; 121.0 metres tall without the statue on its top 15 St. James' Church m (411 ft) Hamburg Lutheran Fourth-tallest church in Hamburg; new, modern spire finished 1963 16 St. Mary's Church m (410 ft) Lübeck Lutheran Second-tallest twin tower façade; tallest twin tower façade finished in the Middle Ages (overtaken by Cologne cathedral only in 1880) 17 Maringá Cathedral m (407 ft) Maringá Catholic Tallest church in the Americas; tallest in South America 18 Cathedral of Our Lady m (406 ft) Antwerp Catholic Tallest church in the Low Countries; tallest in Belgium; tallest in Flanders 19 St. Olaf's Church"Oleviste" m (406 ft) Tallinn Lutheran Tallest church in the Baltic states; tallest in Estonia; tallest Baptist church; according to some sources also the tallest building in the world from 1549 to 1625 20 St. Peter's Church m (405 ft) /1973 Riga Lutheran Second-tallest church in the Baltic states; tallest in Latvia; tower collapsed in 1666 and again in 1721; tower and roof damaged in World War II, restored in 1973 21 Salisbury Cathedral m (404 ft) Salisbury Anglican Tallest church in the United Kingdom; tallest in England; largest cathedral close in Britain ( 22 Peter and Paul Cathedral m (402 ft) St. Petersburg Eastern Orthodox Second-tallest Orthodox church; tallest Orthodox belltower; tallest church in Russia; tallest in St. Petersburg 23 Riverside Church m (393 ft) New York City Baptist / United Church