When workers set the first part of a cross in place at the top of the famous Sagrada Família basilica in Barcelona this week, they established the distinctive cathedral as the tallest church in the world.
The BBC reports that the now 162.91 metres tall church has officially pipped the record held by Ulm Minster in Germany since 1890.
The Sagrada Família, designed by acclaimed architect Antoni Gaudí, has been under construction in the centre of Barcelona for more than a century, with the main building due to be completed next year.
With the addition of the rest of the cross on its central Tower of Jesus Christ over the next months, the basilica will eventually be 172 metres tall.
The first stone of the Sagrada Família was placed in 1882, with up-and-coming architect Gaudí taking over the project the following year.
At the time of his unexpected death in 1926, just one of the planned 18 towers had been built.
During the Spanish Civil War, Catalan anarchists set fire to the crypt, destroying plans and plaster models created by Gaudí that would guide future construction.
[Image: By Jopparn – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=22291043]