Insight Guides: London City Guide by Insight Guides

Author:Insight Guides
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Travel, UK, England, London
Publisher: APA
Published: 2014-09-01T04:00:00+00:00

Insight: St Paul’s ­Cathedral

Sir Christopher Wren built more than 50 churches in London after the Great Fire of 1666, but this is the one that remains his masterpiece.

Historians believe that the first church on the St Paul’s site was built in the 7th century, although it only really came into its own as Old St Paul’s in the 14th century, and by the 16th century it was the tallest cathedral in England. Much of the building was destroyed in the Great Fire of 1666. Construction on the new St Paul’s Cathedral began in 1675, when its architect, Sir Christopher Wren, was 43 years old.

The architect was an old man of 76 when his son Christopher finally laid the highest stone of the lantern on the central cupola in 1710. In total, the cathedral cost £747,954 to build, and most of the money was raised through taxing coal imports. Prior to the 300th anniversary of the ‘topping out’ of the cathedral in 2008, centuries of soot and grime were scrubbed away as part of a £40 million restoration project.

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