St. Paul’s Cathedral in London is one of the largest and most historic churches in the United Kingdom. St. Paul’s serves as the seat of the London diocese of the Church of England. The great English architect, mathematician, and scientist Sir Christopher Wren designed the cathedral. It was built between 1675 and 1710 to replace an earlier St. Paul’s, which was destroyed in the Great Fire of 1666.
St. Paul’s is dominated by a huge dome that towers 365 feet (111 meters) above the ground. The structure is designed in the Baroque style (see Baroque). The exterior includes columns and other elements of classical Greek and Roman architecture. The entrance at the west end of the building, called the west portico, is topped by two elaborate towers.
In the interior of the cathedral, the dome is supported on eight huge arches. The inside of the dome is decorated with frescoes and mosaics. A fresco is a painting made on damp plaster, using pigments mixed with water. A mosaic is a type of decoration made of small pieces of stone, glass, or wood of different colors arranged in such a way as to form a picture or design.
The dome has three main parts. Inside, above the eight arches is the inner dome. The outer dome visible from the surrounding city is a covered timber shell. A cone-shaped, middle shell supports the tall ornament atop the outer dome as well as the outer dome itself.
To stabilize the middle and outer domes, the inner shell rests on a wall that slopes or leans inward, creating the “Whispering Gallery.” The Whispering Gallery is 259 steps above the cathedral floor. The gallery circles the interior of the dome. Because of the inward slope of the wall at this level, a whisper uttered on one side of the gallery can be heard on the opposite side. To further stabilize the structure, the low domes over the inner spaces are braced by hidden flying buttresses extending outside, inspired by Gothic architecture.
The crypt beneath the cathedral floor is filled with impressive monuments and tombs. The British military heroes Lord Nelson and the Duke of Wellington are buried in the crypt, as well as the British artists Joshua Reynolds and J. M. W. Turner, and the cathedral architect Sir Christopher Wren.
The first church on the site of the present St. Paul’s was constructed in A.D. 604. King Ethelbert of Kent established the wooden church as the home of Mellitus, the first bishop of the East Saxons. This church was destroyed by fire and rebuilt from 675 to 685 by Saint Erkenwald. The invading Vikings destroyed this church in 962. A third church burned down in 1087. A replacement church, now called Old St. Paul’s, was completed in 1240. That church, with later additions, survived until the Great Fire of 1666.
See also Wren, Sir Christopher.
