Cologne Cathedral: Overall exterior view of the east, apse side, showing piers, spires and buttressing

A scaffold is present in the middle section. Some repair and maintenance work is constantly being carried out in some section of the building, which is almost never completely free of scaffolding.\u000a\u000aCologne Cathedral, dedicated to St Peter and the Virgin Mary, follows the pattern of the High Gothic cathedrals of northern France. The 4 m high parchment drawing (ca. 1300) of the design of the west fa\u00E7ade provided guidelines for the 19th-century builders. There were no such medieval guidelines for the transept fa\u00E7ades, which were designed afresh by the cathedral architect Ernst Friedrich Zwirner. For four years, 1880-1884, it was the tallest structure in the world, until the completion of the Washington Monument. It has the second-tallest church spires, only surpassed by the single spire of Ulm Minster, completed 10 years later in 1890. A UNESCO World Heritage Site.