Talk:List of tallest structures built before the 20th century

Wording
I realize that "ancient" might not be the correct word, since I include cathedrals from the middle ages, etc. I am thinking of structures built before the 20th century. Most famous buildings from the 20th century are very tall and (I think) have a completely different character from buildings before that time. I ranked the list by height, which is another reason why we would not want to include 20th century structures (the older structures would be buried at the bottom of the list). Maybe somebody else can think of a better word than "ancient." - Obiwan74
 * I agree ancient implies Greek-Roman and older. Why not rename it pre-20th century. By the way I disagree with the completely different nature; neo-gothic architecture went on into the 20th century. Arnoutf 21:26, 23 February 2007 (UTC)
 * I think the distinction lies in the engineering- the 'ancient' buildings are made of stone, but modern tall structures use concrete and, in particular, steel.Batoom 23:13, 10 July 2007 (UTC)

Meters
Feel free to add metric information, so people outside of the states can understand it. Migdejong 23:45, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

Ancient
No. The term "ancient" is never applied by historians to 19th century buildings. Gothic Revival buildings are always considered "modern". Top of the list, Cologne Cathedral was only completed and received its spires when the modern techniques became available. Cologne should never head up this list. If it does, it's worthless.

There also needs to be a distinction between those structures still standing and those that are gone.

The tallest medieval structures were Lincoln Cathedral, Old Saint Paul's Cathedral, St Olav's, Tallinn, Estonia; Strasbourg Cathedral and Salisbury Cathedral. Strasbourg and Salisbury still stand. They are the two tallest ancient structures in the world. Strasbourg is the tallest open-work spire and Salisbury is the tallest spire of solid ashlar masonry. --Amandajm 11:04, 8 September 2007 (UTC)

Suggestion for improvement
Add a column that gives the year it was built. -- &oelig; &trade; 22:09, 15 January 2011 (UTC)

All sources give the height of the La Dante pyramid as 70 to 72 meters, not 170. If that is correct, its position in this list is completely wrong. -- &oelig; &trade; 6:00, 14 October 2012 (UTC)

New Cathedral of Salamanca
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Cathedral_of_Salamanca

Should be on the list. 90.94.154.172 (talk) 18:14, 26 July 2023 (UTC)

Torre de Hércules - Coruña
Should be on the list. 55m. Roman lighthouse 81.39.177.145 (talk) 21:47, 25 October 2023 (UTC)