Spire spires were an astounding architectural innovation, beginning with the early fourteenth-century spire at Freiburg Minster, in which the pierced stonework was held together by iron cramps. The openwork spire, according to Robert Bork, represents a "radical but logical extension of the Gothic tendency towards skeletal structure." The organic skeleton of Antoni Gaudi's phenomenal spires at the Sagrada Família in Barcelona represent an outgrowth of this Gothic tendency. Designed and begun by Gaudi in 1884, they were not completed until the 20th century. In England, "spire" immediately brings to mind Salisbury Cathedral. Its 403-foot (123-m) spire, built between 1320 and 1380,
St Mary of the Angels Basilica, Geelong St Mary of the Angels Basilica, Geelong St Mary of the Angels Basilica, formerly St Mary's Church, is a basilica located in Yarra Street, Geelong, Victoria, Australia. Since the completion of the Gothic revival bluestone building in 1937, St. Mary of the Angels has had the tallest bluestone spire in Australia, at , and has the fourth-tallest non-cathedral spire in Australia. In 2004 it became Australia's fifth basilica, after gaining Vatican approval for the change of description. It is the tallest building in Geelong, with a total height of from the pavement, and is a major landmark in the city.