There are a lot of famous sights in London. Our favourite one is St. Paul’s Cathedral with its exciting history and majestic and impressive outline.St Paul's Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral on Ludgate Hill, in the City of London. The full name of this architectural masterpiece is “Cathedral Church of Paul the Apostle”. It is the seat of the Bishop of London thus being the largest church in London.
It is famous for its unique history, its dome which is the second largest dome in the world apart from St. Peter’s Basilica and the crypt inside.
Visitors can climb 259 steps up the dome to the so-called Whispering Gallery, which runs around the inside of the Dome. When you whisper against the wall there, it can be heard on the opposite side. The smallest gallery is the Golden Gallery. It runs around the outer dome. 530 steps lead up to it and from there visitors have a magnificent view over the River Thames, the Globe Theatre and the Tate Modern.
St. Paul's has many famous visitors: Martin Luther King preached there before he received the Nobel Peace Prize and Charles, Prince of Wales, was married to Lady Diana Spencer there a few years later.
Here are some important events on a timeline:
604 – 1310: The first three cathedrals were built
1675: The design for the 4th cathedral which was made by Sir Christopher Wren was given royal approval.
1666: Old St Paul’s was destroyed in the fire of London.
1710: The new cathedral was completed.
1723: Sir C. Wren died. He was the first person to be laid to rest in the crypt of St Paul’s.
2010: 300th anniversary of the completion of the cathedral.
It is located on the northern side of the Thames near the Millennium Bridge. If you want to get there by Underground, you should take the Central Line to St Paul’s Station. Then you have to walk two minutes to get to the cathedral.
If you prefer to go there on foot, you should think about crossing the Millennium Bridge from the South Bank. By doing this you also get a stunning view of the south side of the cathedral.
So all in all it is a very interesting sight that is strongly intertwined with London’s history.
We hope we could interest you in invisiting this extraordinary church.
If you want to plan your visit to St Paul’s cathedral or if you just want to find out more about it we suggest you visit the following websites:
http://www.stpauls.co.uk/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Paul's_Cathedral
http://www.aviewoncities.com/london/stpaulscathedral.htm
http://www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/Saint_Pauls_Cathedral.html
http://www.sacred-destinations.com/england/london-st-pauls-cathedral.htm
Here are some important events on a timeline:
604 – 1310: The first three cathedrals were built
1675: The design for the 4th cathedral which was made by Sir Christopher Wren was given royal approval.
1666: Old St Paul’s was destroyed in the fire of London.
1710: The new cathedral was completed.
1723: Sir C. Wren died. He was the first person to be laid to rest in the crypt of St Paul’s.
2010: 300th anniversary of the completion of the cathedral.
It is located on the northern side of the Thames near the Millennium Bridge. If you want to get there by Underground, you should take the Central Line to St Paul’s Station. Then you have to walk two minutes to get to the cathedral.If you prefer to go there on foot, you should think about crossing the Millennium Bridge from the South Bank. By doing this you also get a stunning view of the south side of the cathedral.
So all in all it is a very interesting sight that is strongly intertwined with London’s history.
We hope we could interest you in invisiting this extraordinary church.
If you want to plan your visit to St Paul’s cathedral or if you just want to find out more about it we suggest you visit the following websites:
http://www.stpauls.co.uk/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Paul's_Cathedral
http://www.aviewoncities.com/london/stpaulscathedral.htm
http://www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/Saint_Pauls_Cathedral.html
http://www.sacred-destinations.com/england/london-st-pauls-cathedral.htm
A few words after having visited St. Paul's Cathedral
We thoroughly enjoyed our visit to St. Paul’s Cathedral. We did not attend a guided tour, but attended the so-called Evensong. This is a time of prayer and songs sung by a choir. It takes place at 5pm every day. Usually the Cathedral Choir sings the songs, but this time a visiting choir from Canterbury led the worship. Some of us were even allowed to sit in the Quire, the choir stalls. It was an extraordinary experience for us. Unfortunately we did not go up the Dome or to the Whispering Gallery.
Andrew E. and Paul L.
