Photo 1: St. Paul's Cathedral, looking east. |
St. Paul's Cathedral is notable for
many reasons: It is not only the largest cathedral in England, but it is the only one with
a dome. After the original structure was virtually destroyed in the Great Fire of London
in 1666, Christopher Wren rebuilt it between 1675 and 1710. Unlike most great cathedrals,
this present structure was conceived by Wren, built under his supervision, and completed
within his lifetime. It is said that in his old age, Wren loved to sit in the nave under
his great dome. At two diagonal corners beneath the great dome are "whispering
vaults" which are effectively parabolic reflectors where a person can stand at the
focal point and carry on a whispered conversation with another person 85 feet across the
nave. It is not too difficult to find oneself benumbed
to the superlative sights of these great buildings. They are so immense and there are so
many fine details. There has probably never been anyone since Wren himself who has really
been able to grasp what really goes into a structure like this. Besides the obvious
features of the building itself, the people who are buried here seemed to read like a
Who's Who of famous people. I can't even begin to remember even the most notable ones. St.
Paul's was built as a place of worship for the Church of England, unlike Westminster,
which was originally Roman Catholic before the great schism. |
