St Paul's Cathedral

In front of you is the fifth cathedral to stand on this hill, and the most famous. Its predecessor, Gothic old St Paul's, was left in ruins by the Great Fire of 1666. The commission for the new one went to Christopher Wren, an astronomer and mathematician turned architect, who had to battle through several designs with the cathedral chapter before getting his own way.

1A lifetime's work

The foundation stone was laid in 1675 and the cathedral was declared complete in 1711. Wren, who was 43 when work began, lived to see it finished. His dome, around 111 metres high to the top of the cross, is really a triple trick: an inner dome you see from inside, a hidden brick cone that carries the lantern, and an outer shell of lead.

2The dome in the smoke

On the night of 29 December 1940, during the Blitz, incendiary bombs devastated the City. Volunteers kept watch on the roof to put out the fires, and the photographer Herbert Mason captured the dome standing intact amid the smoke. The picture became a symbol of defiance.

“Reader, if you seek his monument, look around you.” Wren's epitaph in the crypt, written in Latin.

On the pediment of the south transept is a phoenix with the word ‘Resurgam’, ‘I shall rise again’. According to Wren's son, it was inspired by a stone found among the rubble bearing that same word.

3What to look for

• The two west towers, Baroque in shape, one with the clock.
• The statue of Queen Anne, who was on the throne when the cathedral was finished.
• The dome: walk around the building and see how it dominates the street.