St. Paul's Cathedral: History and Architecture

St. Paul's CathedralThe story of St. Paul's CathedralThe current church St Paul's Cathedral is not the first built in London. Before it was built a number of other cathedrals.The first was built in the 604th But it was burned and instead were built another at the same place from 675-685, which was later destroyed by Viking raiders in the 962nd. The third was built in 1087, but was also burned. The fourth cathedral was built in the late 11th century. It was constructed of Caen and was one of the massive buildings in England at this time. Its spire stood higher than the dome of the present cathedral. Spire was struck by lightning and went quickly in a fire in 1561 and was never replaced. They had intended to renovate the building, but the structure was severely damaged by Cromwellian cavalry troops who had used it as a barrack. In the 1660s Christopher Wren was to repair the cathedral, but he did not before it was burned in 1666.Later Wren designed the present cathedral in London, which was built of Portland stone from 1675-1710. During the 19th century, they made some decorative changes that would have the Victorian taste. Several times the church was protected from war, but rarely was the hit and then repaired. Wren's design for this church symbolizes the ideals of the English Restoration and 17th century scientific philosophy.St. Paul's famous dome is composed of three shells: an outer dome, a concealed brick cone, and an inner dome. Cross on the outer dome stands 112 meters above the ground and the famous Golden Gallery, which offers panaromaen of London, is 280 above the ground. Longer on the brick cone is another popular place called Stone Gallery.In the church crypt were buried many soldiers and artists, but also, Lord Nelson, the Duke of Wellington and the Christopher Wren.Today, St. Paul's Cathedral visited year round by many tourists around the world. Tourists go to this church because it is beautiful, exciting but also because it can tell a lot about England's religion, faith and society.