[admp]

Cologne cathedral didn’t actually take 500 years to build — construction was restarted after a 250+ year halt.

“Construction of Cologne Cathedral began in 1248 but was halted in the years around 1560, unfinished. Attempts to complete the construction began around 1814 but the project was not properly funded until the 1840s.”

[samatman]

So it took 500 years to build.

If a building took one year to build, but they didn't work on the weekends, would you object and say no, it only took 260 days?

[zokier]

Lets take an example closer to home. Babbage famously started working on his Analytical Engine 1837. He never got it very far though, and the project remained dead for 150ish years. Until jgc and friends got the idea to complete the project and construct the Engine.

So would you say it took 200 years to build Analytical Engine, or would you consider the Babbages original attempt and the current day attempt two separate projects?

[Timwi]

That seems to me irrelevant to the point being made.