[210] According to the calculations of Letronne, the Great Pyramid must have been 482 feet high when it was complete. In the time of Diodorus it was slightly over 480 feet; in that of Abd-ul-Latif it measured 477 feet 3 inches. In 1795 it was only 456 feet and a few inches, so that it lost about 24 feet in the course of eighteen centuries. This lowering of the summit was mainly caused by the destruction and removal of the outer casing. Since it disappeared the Arabs have been in the habit of loosening the stones on the top and launching them down the sides for the amusement of travellers; the smooth casing alone could prevent such outrage as this. The common idea that the Pyramid of Cheops is the highest building in the world is erroneous. Even if we take its height when complete, it is surpassed by at least two modern buildings, as may be seen by the following table of the most lofty buildings now existing:-- Feet. Spires of Cologne Cathedral 533 Flèche of the Cathedral at Rouen 500 Spire of St. Nicholas, Hamburg 480 Dome of St. Peter's, Rome 476 Spire of Strasbourg Cathedral 473 Pyramid of Cheops 456 Spire of St. Stephen's, Vienna 450 Spire of St. Martin's, Landshut 443 Spire of the Cathedral of Freiburg, Breisgau 417 Spire of Antwerp Cathedral, not including the cross 411 Spire of Salisbury Cathedral 404 Dome of Cathedral at Florence 396 Dome of St. Paul's, London 371 Flèche of Milan Cathedral 363 Tower of Magdeburg Cathedral 344 Victoria Tower, Westminster 336 Rathhaus Tower, Berlin 293 Spire of Trinity Church, New York 287 Pantheon, Paris 266 Towers of Nôtre Dame, Paris 226 But this is a conjecture which can never be verified. Even if the topmost stone were still in place upon any of the pyramids it would, after all these ages, have lost all traces of gilding; but the whole of those edifices have their apex more or less truncated. Even before our era, Diodorus[211] found the Great Pyramid crowned by a plateau six cubits square. [211] DIODORUS, i. 63, 64.