Steeple in the context of Hennin

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 (161.53 m) on 30 October 2025 when its central tower reached 162.91 m. The tower is intended to reach 172 m when completed, expected in 2026.
• The tallest church building in the world until 2025 was the Ulm Minster (161.53 m), 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 (158 m) in Yamoussoukro, Ivory Coast.
• The tallest cathedral as well as the tallest church building with two steeples is Cologne Cathedral (157.22 m) in Cologne, Germany.
• The tallest domed cathedral as well as the tallest Eastern Orthodox is People's Salvation Cathedral (132 m) in Bucharest, Romania.
• The tallest brickwork church building is St Martin's Church (130.6 m) in Landshut, Germany.
• The tallest brickwork church building with two steeples is St Mary's Church (125 m) in Lübeck, Germany.
• The tallest wooden church building is Săpânța-Peri Monastery church (78 m) in Săpânța, Romania.
• The tallest church building in the Americas is the Cathedral of Maringá (124 m) in Maringá, Brazil.

The cities with the most churches surpassing 99 metres (325 feet) are Hamburg (5 of the 29 tallest churches, with 5 towers overall), Lübeck (4 of the 56 tallest churches, two of which with twin towers → 6 towers overall), Vienna (2), Tallinn (2), St. Petersburg (2), New York City (2), Dortmund (2) and Stralsund (2).

A church bell is a bell in a church building designed to be heard outside the building. It can be a single bell, or part of a set of bells. Their main function is to call worshippers to the church for a service of worship, but are also rung on special occasions such as a wedding, or a funeral service. In certain Christian traditions, such as Catholicism and Lutheranism, church bells signify to people both inside and outside of the church that a particular part of the service (such as the recitation of the Lord's Prayer or consecration of Holy Communion) has been reached. The ringing of church bells thrice a day occurs in congregations of certain Christian denominations as a call to prayer, reminding the faithful to pray the Lord's Prayer or the Angelus Domini.

The traditional European church bell (see cutaway drawing) used in Christian churches worldwide consists of a cup-shaped metal resonator with a pivoted clapper hanging inside which strikes the sides when the bell is swung. It is hung within a steeple or belltower of a church or religious building, so the sound can reach a wide area. Such bells are either fixed in position ("hung dead") or hung from a pivoted beam (the "headstock") so they can swing to and fro. A rope hangs from a lever or wheel attached to the headstock, and when the bell ringer pulls on the rope the bell swings back and forth and the clapper hits the inside, sounding the bell. Bells that are hung dead are normally sounded by hitting the sound bow with a hammer or occasionally by a rope which pulls the internal clapper against the bell.

A steeplechase is a distance horse race in which competitors are required to jump diverse fence and ditch obstacles. Steeplechasing is primarily conducted in Ireland (where it originated), Great Britain, Canada, United States, Australia, and France. The name is derived from early races in which orientation of the course was by reference to a church steeple, jumping fences and ditches and generally traversing the many intervening obstacles in the countryside.

Modern usage of the term "steeplechase" differs between countries. In Ireland and Great Britain, it refers only to races run over large, fixed obstacles, in contrast to "hurdle" races where the obstacles are much smaller. The collective term "jump racing" or "National Hunt racing" is used when referring to steeplechases and hurdle races collectively (although, properly speaking, National Hunt racing also includes some flat races). Elsewhere in the world, "steeplechase" is used to refer to any race that involves jumping obstacles.

A spire is a tall, slender, pointed structure on top of a roof of a building or tower, especially at the summit of church steeples. A spire may have a square, circular, or polygonal plan, with a roughly conical or pyramidal shape. Spires are typically made of stonework or brickwork, or else of timber structures with metal cladding, ceramic tiling, roof shingles, or slates on the exterior.

Since towers supporting spires are usually square, square-plan spires emerge directly from the tower's walls, but octagonal spires are either built above a pyramidal transition section called a broach at the spire's base, or else free spaces around the tower's summit for decorative elements like pinnacles. The former solution is known as a broach spire. Small or short spires are known as spikes, spirelets, or flèches.

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 (161.53 m) on 30 October 2025 when its central tower reached 162.91 m. The tower is intended to reach 172 m when completed, expected in 2026.
• The tallest completed church building in the world is the Ulm Minster (161.53 m), 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 (158 m) in Yamoussoukro, Ivory Coast.
• The tallest cathedral as well as the tallest church building with two steeples is Cologne Cathedral (157.22 m) in Cologne, Germany.
• The tallest domed cathedral as well as the tallest Eastern Orthodox is People's Salvation Cathedral (132 m) in Bucharest, Romania.
• The tallest brickwork church building is St Martin's Church (130.6 m) in Landshut, Germany.
• The tallest brickwork church building with two steeples is St Mary's Church (125 m) in Lübeck, Germany.
• The tallest wooden church building is Săpânța-Peri Monastery church (78 m) in Săpânța, Romania.
• The tallest church building in the Americas is the Cathedral of Maringá (124 m) in Maringá, Brazil.

The cities with the most churches surpassing 99 metres (325 feet) are Hamburg (5 of the 29 tallest churches, with 5 towers overall), Lübeck (4 of the 56 tallest churches, two of which with twin towers → 6 towers overall), Vienna (2), Tallinn (2), St. Petersburg (2), New York City (2), Dortmund (2) and Stralsund (2).