St Paul's Cathedral

St Paul’s Cathedral stands on Ludgate Hill, the highest point in the City of London. The present building, completed in 1710, is the work of Sir Christopher Wren and is a Grade I listed example of English Baroque. Its famous dome rises 111 metres and dominated London’s skyline for more than three centuries. The cathedral replaced an earlier Gothic church destroyed in the Great Fire of 1666. For centuries it has been the setting for royal thanksgivings, state funerals and national services. The cathedral has witnessed many historic events. Among them are the funerals of Admiral Lord Nelson, the Duke of Wellington, Winston Churchill and Margaret Thatcher. It hosted the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer and thanksgiving services for Queen Elizabeth II’s jubilees. During the Blitz the dome stood amid smoke and fire, becoming a symbol of defiance. The building remains a working church with daily services and hourly prayer. Visitors enter a vast interior of marble and stone beneath the great dome. The Whispering Gallery circles the dome’s base, where faint sounds travel clearly across the curve. The cathedral’s crypt holds tombs and memorials, including one to Christopher Wren himself. Outside, the surrounding streets lead to the nearby Underground station just 120 metres away. The view from the hill shows the dome framed by Wren’s spires across the City.