Truemors
St Paul's Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral on Ludgate Hill and the seat of the Bishop of London.
A Cathedral dedicated to St. Paul has sat on this site since 604. The first, a wood Saxon Cathedral said to be on the site of an ancient megalith, burned down in 675. It was rebuilt in stone in 685, only to be destroyed by Vikings in 961 and rebuilt again in 962 when it again was destroyed in the fire of 1087. The fourth, known as Old St. Paul's took over 200 years of work by the Normans and finally consecreated in 1240. Despite rennovations like Sir Inigo Jones' west from in the 1630s, it barely surved seizures from the Dissolution of Monastaeries, Protestant mobs, a lightning strike in 1561, and defacement during the Civil War before finally being destroyed by the Great Fire in 1666.
Sir Christopher Wren went through three rejected designs before finally settling on the 'warrant' design in 1675. Although more modest in design, Wren took liberties allowed by King Charles II to make ornamental changes and radically rework the large central dome and west towers. Built of Portland stone in a late Renaissance style, the cathedral was completed on Ocotber 20, 1708--Wren's 76th birthday. This cathedral has survived until the present day, despite being bombed twice (and avoiding the detonation a 3rd time released bomb that would've destroyed the building) during the Blitz.
The dome, inspired by St Peter's Basilica, rises 108m (365') to the cross at its summit and is the second largest in Europe. Wren actually built three domes: the tall outer dome is non-structural but impressive to view, the lower inner dome provides an artistically balanced interior, and between the two is a structural cone which supports the apex structure and the outer dome panelling. The ceiling is covered in 30 million pieces of glass, depicting various biblical scenes and prophets from Creation to the Crucifixion.
Upon entering the church through the west porch, one is greeted with the long processional nave. To the left is the All Souls’ Chapel, St. Dunstan’s Chapel and entrance to the bell tower. To the right are the chapels of St. Michael and St. George.
The Whispering Gallery, with its frescoes by Sir James Thornhill, runs around the interior of the Dome, 259 steps up from ground-level. A serepndipitous acoustical effect, which gives the gallery its name, allows a whisper against its wawll to be audible to a listener standing on the opposite side 107-feet away. It is also from here that the cathedral’s scale and patterned floor are best appreciated. For exterior views, though, the Stone Gallery sits another 199 steps up, and the Golden Gallery yet another 172.
The western porch features two clock towers. The southwest tower, "Big Tom", meausres 16-feet across and has a minute hand taller than a human being. It houses 4 bells, including Great Paul--cast in 1881, this 17-tonne bell rings an A-flat for 5 minutes at 1pm and is actually larger than the one in Westminster; and Great Tom--recast twice since moving over from Westminster, it rings an E-flat on the hour. The northwest tower contains 12 bells.
St. Paul’s boasts the largest crypt in Europe, with over 300 memorials and tombs including Lord Nelson, the Duke of Wellington, Florence Nightingale, Lord Kitchener, and Christopher Wren.
Comments (0)