St Pauls Cathedral
One wartime photograph above all came to symbolize
the resisting spirit of London during the 1940 Blitz that famous
shot of the dome of St. Paul's Cathedral silhouetted
against a wall of flame and smoke, standing firm under fiery
attack. There was an irony to the image, too, for it was the
Fire of London in 1666 that destroyed the city's
cathedral
|
|
and enabled Sir Christopher Wren (1632-1723) to build the magnificent new saint pauls church
that made his name and fortune. Wren dominated London's rebuilding
after the fire, designing 52 churches, of which the great baroque
cathedral of St. Paul (1675-1710) was his masterpiece.
Huge, domed, swagged, and magnificent, bulky St. Paul's
sits marooned in a green churchyard. Twin towers guard the west
front, built in 1707 the northern tower houses the largest bell
in England, the 17 ton "Great Paul." Inside
the cathedral, the saucer domes on the nave ceiling carry the
eye forward to the crossing under the great dome.
Wren wanted to build a basilica cathedral with
four arms of near equal length, but this was considered too
Italianate and too modern and the church authorities insisted
on the conventional long nave and shorter transepts. However,
Wren's innovative genius was allowed full play in the construction
of the dome, 364 feet high and second only to St. Peter's
in Vatican City. It measures 137 feet from
side to side of its famous Whispering Gallery,
and bears down with the weight of thousands of tons of stone
and lead the lantern on the top alone weighs 850 tons.
Before climbing the 530 steps to the topmost viewing gallery,
take plenty of time to enjoy a stroll around the body of the
cathedral. Here, the beautiful wrought iron choir screen was
made by Jean Tijou, one of the Huguenot
refugees who so greatly enhanced the cultural and artistic
life of Britain. Another foreign settler, the Rotterdam
mastercarver Grinling Gibbons (1648-1721) carved the
choir stalls and organ casing to Wren's original decorative
design.
MEMORIALS
It had been Wren's wish that his masterpiece be
left uncluttered with memorials, but the cathedral's symbolic
importance made this impossible. Indeed, much of the interest
of St. Paul's lies in its many monuments. Immediately on entry,
you pass on your left the Chapel of All Souls
with its deathly white effigy of Lord Kitchener of Khartoum.
There is a touching and seldom inspected pieta located above
the chapel's altar. In the north aisle and
north transept are notable memorials to famous men such as
Dr. Samuel Johnson and Field Marshal Lord Slim,
as well as to forgotten heroes like Maj. Gen. Andrew
Hay who died aged 52, "dosing a military life marked
by zeal, prompt decision, and signal intrepidity." Painter and
sculptor Frederick, Lord Leighton (1830-1896)
and the Duke of Wellington (1769-1852) both
have remarkably hook-nosed effigies.
Wellington himself lies buried in the crypt
in a giant marble tomb surrounded by lions, while nearby are
images of Florence Nightingale (1820-1910)
tending a soldier, and the hero of Trafalgar, Lord Nelson (1758-1805
), lying in a huge, black sarcophagus under a rather flashy
coronet and cushion. His coffin was orignally commissioned for
Cardinal Wolsey in the 16th centu-ry, then seized by Henry VIII.
It remained unused until 1805 when Nelson was buried within
it.
DOME
Shallow wooden steps lead up to
a short flight of stone stairs and the entrance to the Whispering
Gallery with its wall paintings and good view down into the
nave one of the angles from which in 1981 TV viewers around
the world saw the solem-nization of the marriage between Charles
Prince of Wales, and the 19 year old Lady Diana
Spencer. From here, more spiral steps climb to the
windy Stone Gallery, and there is a final flight
of iron stairs to the little railed Golden Gallery,
dizzyingly high, where you stand in the open 350 feet above
the churchyard and look out over London and
the Thames.
Reference:
Extract from "The National Geographic Traveler - Great Britain" written by Christopher Somerville.
|
|
|
