St Paul's Cathedral
This is the fourth cathedral dedicated to St Paul on this
site since 604AD. The one before this one was a huge
gothic building, but it was destroyed in the Great Fire
of London in 1666.
Sir Christopher Wren, the famous architect, came up very quickly with the plans to replace it with a new building. He wanted the style to be classical, like the great buildings in Italy. Many people did not agree, because they didn’t want the cathedral to look like a Catholic one – but Sir Christopher got his own way in the end.
The cathedral he built is the only one with a dome in this country – and the dome is the largest in the world, apart from St. Peter’s in the Vatican. Above the rows of twelve and then eight columns at the West front is a triangular pediment with a carving of the conversion of St Paul. A statue of the apostle stands above the pediment.
There are two towers on the West front. The one on the right has a clock and the one on the left has bells. On top of the dome is a golden cross, 365 feet high.
St Paul’s is often the place where important church services take place. Queen Elizabeth I came here when the Spanish Armada was defeated, and there were peace services at the end of World War I and World War II. There were celebrations for the Jubilees of Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth II. Prince Charles married Lady Diana here, and the funerals of Lord Nelson, the Duke of Wellington and Winston Churchill were all here. Nelson and Wellington are buried here.
It took a long time to build the cathedral. Work started in 1675 and finished in 1710. The cathedral has just been cleaned (for 40 million pounds) ready for its 300th anniversary. In 1710, when the cathedral was finished, the queen was Queen Anne. Her statue is at the West front of the building. She is looking down Ludgate Hill.
Her story is quite sad. She was the last of the Stuart family to rule the country because, although she had 18 children, they all died before her. She began to drink and got so fat they say she had to be buried in a square coffin.
Children made up a rhyme about her.
Queen Nan, Queen Nan,
They’ve left you in the lurch,
Your face to the gin shop,
Your back to the church.