Paternoster Square

Paternoster Square lies beside St Paul’s Cathedral in the City of London on the gentle rise of Ludgate Hill. The square replaced a historic market renamed in the late 19th century and rebuilt after wartime bombing. Modern buildings now house the London Stock Exchange and investment banks including Goldman Sachs and Nomura Securities. The square’s colonnades and pedestrian paths frame Christopher Wren’s Temple Bar Gate, moved here in 2004 to mark the entrance. A 23-metre Corinthian column topped by a gilded urn stands at the centre, its fibre-optic lighting illuminating the night sky. Bronze sculptures by Dame Elisabeth Frink and Thomas Heatherwick add character to the plaza. Visitors walk along paved avenues lined with classical-style façades designed by Sir William Whitfield. The square offers views of St Paul’s dome rising above the rooftops. Temple Bar Gate and the column together form a striking foreground to the cathedral’s west front.