Собор Святого Павла (St. Paul’s Cathedral)
St. Paul’s Cathedral differs from many famous cathedrals in the world in that it is the creation of one man — Sir Christopher Wren. Arriving in London, he had to repair the damage caused by the Great Fire, which occurred in the city in 1666.
The Cathedral of St. Peter in Rome inspired the architect on the project of the Cathedral of St. Paul. Wren designed the buildings surrounding the cathedral, which architecture repeated the Italian style in many respects, especially the magnificent colonnades. But the land in this area of London was too expensive, and the projects were never implemented.
St. Paul’s Cathedral is the burial place of famous personalities of Great Britain. There are the graves of architect Christopher Wren, Admiral Nelson, artist Henry Moore, composer Sir Arthur Sullivan.
During World War II in 1940, a bomb pierced the roof and destroyed the upper altar. The following year, another bomb exploded inside the cathedral and broke stained glass.
Собор Святого Павла отличается от многих знаменитых соборов мира тем, что это творение одного человека – сэра Кристофера Рена. Приехав в Лондон, он должен был восстановить ущерб, нанесённый Большим пожаром, который произошёл в городе в 1666 году.
На проект собора Святого Павла архитектора вдохновил Собор Святого Петра в Риме. Рен спроектировал окружающие собор здания, архитектура которых во многом повторяла итальянский стиль, в особенности великолепные колоннады. Но земля в этом районе Лондона стоила слишком дорого, и проекты так и не были реализованы.
Собор был достроен в начале XVIII века. Официальной датой открытия считается день рождение архитектора Рена – 20 октября 1708 год. Под куполом здания находится три галереи. Галерея шёпота обязано своим названием необычной акустике. Любое слово, сказанное в одном конце галереи, многократно отражается эхом в другом конце. В колокольнях собора установлено 17 колоколов.
Собор святого Павла является местом погребения известных личностей Великобритании. Здесь находятся могилы архитектора Кристофера Рена, адмирала Нельсона, художника Генри Мура, композитора сэра Артура Салливана.
С Золотой галереи собора – маленького и узкого, продуваемого ветрами пространства – открывается прекрасный вид на Лондон. Отсюда видны извилистые улицы Сити и башни Вестминстерского аббатства над Темзой.
London. St Paul’s Cathedral. Лондон. Собор Святого Павла
London. St Paul’s Cathedral
St Paul’s Cathedral is one of the most famous buildings in the world, and it is also one of the greatest survivors!
There was once a Roman temple on the site, dedicated to the goddess Diana. Since then there have been four different Christian buildings. The first Christian church was built by the Saxon King, Ethelbert of Kent. Being made of wood it didn’t stand a chance and was eventually burnt down. It was rebuilt in stone but that didn’t work either as it was destroyed in a Viking invasion. When the Saxons used wood again on the third church, it was doomed to be destroyed by fire again!
When old St Paul’s was built in the time of William the Conqueror, stone from Northern France was used and it was much taller and wider than it is today. During the reign of King Henry VIII, financial problems meant there wasn’t enough money for the cathedral’s upkeep. Parts of it were destroyed and a market place was set up inside selling, bread, meat, fish and beer!
The first public lottery was held at St Paul’s by the West Door. But instead of the profits going to the cathedral they went to the country’s harbours. Elizabeth I granted money to the cathedral for repairs and an architect was appointed. Inigo Jones cleared out the shops and market place ready for repairs. However it fell in to decay again when soldiers used it as barracks during the Civil War.
Christopher Wren, the cathedral’s final architect, was asked to restore it. Before he could make much progress, parts of it were destroyed by the Great Fire of London, which started in a baker’s shop in Pudding Lane and raged for five days, destroying many of the buildings in the City.
Christopher Wren started once more with a magnificent vision of St Paul’s and the rest of the City. All this in spite of the fact that he was more of a scientist and hadn’t actually built or designed anything until he was 30 years old. He laid the foundation stone for the cathedral in 1675. 35 years later he set the final stone in place. When he died he was buried in his own magnificent building.
The clock tower on the West Side houses the bell known as Great Paul. At three metres in diameter, it is the heaviest swinging bell in the country. Of course there is the famous dome and the cross on top is 365 feet from the ground. It is the second largest cathedral dome in the world. Only St Paul’s in Rome is bigger.
Why not pay St Paul’s a visit? One feature you will find interesting is the Whispering Gallery, where you can whisper at one wall, and then hear what you whispered on the opposite wall 107 feet away!
Лондон. Собор Святого Павла
Собор Святого Павла является одним из самых известных зданий в мире, и это также одно из крупнейших выживших!
Когда-то это был римский храм, посвященный богине Диане. С тех пор там было четыре различных христианских здания. Первая христианская церковь была построена саксонским королем Этельбертом Кентским. Так как она была построена из дерева, у неё не было шансов, она в конце концов сгорела. Она была восстановлена в камне, но это не помогло, она была разрушена вторжением Викингов. Когда саксы использовали древесину для третьей церкви, она была обречена быть уничтоженой огнем еще раз!
Когда старый собор Святого Павла был построен во времена Вильгельма Завоевателя, был использован камень из Северной Франции, и он был гораздо выше и шире чем сегодня. Во время правления короля Генриха VIII, финансовые проблемы не позволяли содержать такой огромный собор. Части его были разрушены и внутри был создан рынок по продаже хлеба, мяса, рыбы и пива!
Первая публичная лотерея состоялась у Западого входа. Но прибыли вместо собора отправились на порты страны. Елизавета I предоставила деньги на ремонт собора и был назначен архитектор. Иниго Джонс очистил его от магазинов и рынка и подготовил для ремонта. Вместе с тем он стал разрушаться еще раз, когда солдаты использовали его в качестве казарм в годы гражданской войны.
Кристоферу Рену, архитектору окончательного собора, было предложено восстановить его. Прежде чем он смог добиться значительного прогресса, его части были уничтожены Великим лондонским пожаром, который начался в булочной в Пуддинг-лэйн и длился пять дней, уничтожив многие здания в городе.
Кристофер Рен начал работать еще раз с великолепным видением собора святого Павла и на остальной части города. Все это, несмотря на то, что он был скорее ученым и фактически не построил и не разработал ничего до 30 лет. Он заложил первый камень в фундамент собора в 1675 году. 35 лет спустя он установил последний камень на место. Когда он умер, он был похоронен в своем великолепном здании.
Башня с часами на Западном крыле имеет колокол, известый как Великий Павел. Имея три метра в диаметре, это самый тяжелый колокол в стране. Конечно, есть знаменитый купол и крест на вершине, что составляет 365 футов от земли. Это второй самый большой купол собора в мире. Только собор Святого Павла в Риме больше.
Почему бы не посетить собор Святого Павла? Одной из особенностей вы найдете шепчущую галерею, где можно прошептать что-то на одной стене, а потом услышать, что ты шептал на противоположной стене за 107 метров!
St Paul’s Cathedral
Introduction
The cathedral is one of the most famous and most recognisable sights of London, with its dome, framed by the spires of Wren’s City churches, dominating the skyline for 300 years. At 365 feet (111 m) high, it was the tallest building in London from 1710 to 1962, and its dome is also among the highest in the world. In terms of area, St Paul’s is the second largest church building in the United Kingdom after Liverpool Cathedral.
St Paul’s Cathedral occupies a significant place in the national identity of the English population. It is the central subject of much promotional material, as well as postcard images of the dome standing tall, surrounded by the smoke and fire of the Blitz. Important services held at St Paul’s include the funerals of Lord Nelson, the Duke of Wellington and Sir Winston Churchill; Jubilee celebrations for Queen Victoria; peace services marking the end of the First and Second World Wars; the marriage of Charles, Prince of Wales, and Lady Diana Spencer, the launch of the Festival of Britain and the thanksgiving services for both the Golden Jubilee and 80th Birthday of Queen Elizabeth II. St Paul’s Cathedral is a busy working church, with hourly prayer and daily services.
History
Old St Paul’s prior to 1561
By the 16th century the building was decaying. Under Henry VIII and Edward VI, the Dissolution of the Monasteries and Chantries Acts led to the destruction of interior ornamentation and the cloisters, charnels, crypts, chapels, shrines, chantries and other buildings in St Paul’s Churchyard. Many of these former religious sites in the churchyard, having been seized by the Crown, were sold as shops and rental properties, especially to printers and booksellers, who were often Puritans. Buildings that were razed often supplied ready-dressed building material for construction projects, such as the Lord Protector’s city palace, Somerset House.
Crowds were drawn to the northeast corner of the churchyard, St Paul’s Cross, where open-air preaching took place. In 1561 the spire was destroyed by lightning and it was not replaced; this event was taken by both Protestants and Roman Catholics as a sign of God’s displeasure at the other faction’s actions.
England’s first classical architect, Inigo Jones, added the cathedral’s west front in the 1630s, but there was much defacing mistreatment of the building by Parliamentarian forces during the Civil War, when the old documents and charters were dispersed and destroyed (Kelly 2004). «Old St Paul’s» was gutted in the Great Fire of London of 1666. While it might have been salvageable, albeit with almost complete reconstruction, a decision was taken to build a new cathedral in a modern style instead. Indeed this had been contemplated even before the fire.
The Great Fire
In 1665 Christopher Wren designed a plan for the renovation of the St. Paul’s Cathedral, which was starting to fall into decay. But disaster struck again on the night of September 2, 1666, when the Great Fire of London destroyed 4/5th of all of London, wiping 13,200 houses and 89 churches, including the St. Paul’s Cathedral off the map.
Christopher Wren’s Masterpiece (design and construction)
Sir Christopher Wren
Wren was a founder member in 1660 of the Royal Society, a national academy for science, but he was also a man of profound Christian faith. He came from a family of clergy who had been loyal to the Royalist cause during the Civil War, and it was faith that inspired his though. ‘Architecture’, he once explained, ‘aims at eternity.’
As an architect favoured by royalty and state, Wren’s commissions varied wildly. They included the Greenwich Observatory and Greenwich Hospital, and extensive work at Hampton Court Palace and Kensington Palace, as well as some magnificent building in Oxford, where he studied and worked as Professor of Astronomy from 1661 to 1673.
However, Wren’s great passion was for the City of London, for St Paul’s and for the many City churches he designed following the Great Fire of London.
The i nterior of St Paul’s Cathedral
The Dome
Thornhill began work on the dome in 1715 and finished four years later. His murals are based on a series of pen and ink sketches on the life of St Paul’s. What we see today are reproductions from Thornhill’s designs that were repainted in 1853. The originals deteriorated as a result of the British climate and London smog.
The crypt is the cathedral’s foremost burial place, and the place where those who have made an outstanding contribution to the life of the nation now rest.
The crypt has monuments to conflicts and other outstanding achievements in the cause of a better world. In some cases the names on these monuments are still cherished by loved ones. We are reminded of the human cost paid by those who have striven for what they believed in.
Nelson’s Tomb
Lord Nelson was famously killed in the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805 and buried in St Paul’s after a state funeral. He was laid in a coffin made from the timber of a French ship he defeated in battle.
The black marble sarcophagus that adorns his tomb was originally made for Cardinal Wolsey, Lord Chancellor during the reign of Henry VII in the early sixteenth century. After Wolsey’s fall from favour, it remained unused at Windsor until a suitable recipient could be found. Nelson’s viscount coronet now tops this handsome monument.
Wellington’s Tomb
Lord Wellington rests in a simple but imposing casket made of Cornish granite. Although a national hero, Wellington was not a man of glory in his victories. ‘Nothing except a battle lost can be held so melancholy as a battle won,’ he wrote in a dispatch of 1815, the year in which he defeated Napoleon at Waterloo. The Duke was known as The Iron Duke and as a result of his tireless campaigning, has left a colorful list of namesakes — Wellington boots, the dish Beef Wellington and even a brand of cigars. He also coined some memorable phrases. He gave the expression ‘… and another thing’ to the English language and declared ‘The battle of Waterloo was won on the playing fields of Eton.’
The banners hanging around Wellington’s tomb were made for his funeral procession. Originally, there was one for Prussia, which was removed during World War I and never reinstated.
Sir Christopher Wren’s Tomb
Sir Christopher Wren, the architect of St Paul’s, is buried in the south aisle at the east end of the crypt. Wren’s tomb is marked by a simple stone and is surrounded by memorials to his family, to Robert Hooke (Wren ‘s associate and intellectual equal) and to the masons and other colleagues who worked on the building of St Paul’s. The Latin epitaph above his tomb, written by his son famously addresses us: ‘Reader, if you see his monument, look around you.’
In the same section of the crypt are many tombs and memorials of artists, scientists and musicians. They include the painters Sir Joshua Reynolds and Sir John Everett Millais; the scientist Sir Alexander Fleming, who discovered penicillin; the composer Sir Arthur Sullivan (of Gilbert and Sullivan); and the sculptor Henry Moore.
The Chapels
The Chapels at St Paul’s offer a place for reflection, prayer and smaller services. On the cathedral floor you will find the Chapel of All Souls, Chapel of St Dunstan, Chapel of St Michael & St George, the Middlesex Chapel and the American Memorial Chapel and so on.
Chapel of the Order of the British Empire The OBE Chapel
The original St Faith’s was a parish church attached to the old cathedral destroyed in the Great Fire of London. During the rebuilding of St Paul’s, this chapel was dedicated to St Faith close to the foundations of the former church and offered parishioners their own place of worship in the building.
In 1960 this chapel became the spiritual home to the Order of the British Empire. The Order was created by King George V in 1917, in recognition made by women during the First World War. Until then no woman had been eligible for an award, although an exception was made for Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern British nursing. The OBE was separated into military and civil divisions in 1918. Today, award-holders of the OBE and members of their family may be married and baptized in the chapel.
All Souls’ Chapel: the Kitchener Memorial
Situated on the ground floor of the north-west tower, this chapel was dedicated in 1925 to the memory of Field Marshal Lord Kitchener and the servicemen who died in the First World War. Kitchener died at sea and his body was never recovered. He is best known for his restructuring of the British army during the First World War and for the most effective recruitment campaign in British military history, using the slogan ‘Your Country Needs You’.
Among the chapel’s artifacts are sculptures of the military saints St Michael and St George, a beautiful pietб — a sculpture of the Virgin Mary holding the body of Christ — and an effigy of Lord Kitchener. The silver-plated candlesticks on the altar are made from melted-down trophies won by the London Rifle Brigade.
St Dunstan’s Chapel
This chapel was consecrated in 1699, was the second part of Wren’s building to come into use, after the Quire. In 1905, it was dedicated to St Dunstan, a Bishop of London who became of Archbishop of Canterbury in 959. Before this it was known as the Morning Chapel, because the early morning service of Mattins was conducted here.
The Chapel of St Dunstan is set aside for prayer. You can light a candle here, as a sign of prayer, and you can also leave the names of those you wish to be remembered in prayer during one of the cathedral’s services. Visitors do not have to pay to enter this chapel.
The Chapel of St Michael and St George
This chapel is located on the south aisle on the cathedral floor. The chapel was originally the consistory court in which cases of ecclesiastical law were heard. Renamed in 1906 and dedicated to St Michael and St George, it is the spiritual home of the Order of St Michael and St George, founded in 1818 to honour people who have rendered important service overseas.
Among the chapel stalls are banners of current knights and officers of the Order, including HM The Queen, who visits periodically for the Order’s ceremonial service.
The Chapel of St Erkenwald and St Ethelburga: The Middlesex Chapel This chapel is home to members of the Middlesex Regiment. The flags in the chapel are the colour of the Middlesex Regiment — the empty pole belongs to a flag that was lost during World War II. Behind the altar stands William Holman Hunt’s Light of the World.
The American Memorial Chapel
At the east end of the Cathedral behind the High Altar is the American Memorial Chapel. The Chapel is also known as the Jesus Chapel, as the space was known prior to World War II.
This part of the building was destroyed during the Blitz and as part of the post-war restoration it was decided that the people of Britain should commemorate the 28,000 Americans who were killed on their way to, or stationed in, the UK during the Second World War. Their names are recorded in the 500-page roll of honour encased behind the high altar. This was presented by General Eisenhower in 1951 and a page of the book is turned every day.
The American Chapel was designed by Stephen Dykes Bower and constructed by Godfrey Allen, Surveyor to the Fabric 1931-1956. The images that adorn its wood, metalwork and stained glass include depictions of the flora and fauna of North America and references to historical events. The three chapel windows date from 1960. They feature themes of service and sacrifice, while the insignia around the edges represent the American states and the US armed forces. The limewood panelling incorporates a rocket — a tribute to America’s achievements in space.
The Knights Bachelor Chapel
The Chapel of the Imperial Society of Knights Bachelor is also known as St Martin’s Chapel.
The Chapel was dedicated by HM the Queen in 2008. The Dean and Chapter of St Paul’s had offered the Imperial Society of Knights Bachelor the use in perpetuity of an area which, although a chapel in the 1930s, had been disused for many years and was closed off from the main space of the Crypt.
The Chapel is panelled with English oak and in it, in two elegant cases, are kept the Registers which contain the names of all Knights Bachelor from 1257 to date and also the Founder Knights’ and Benefactors’ Book. Near them is displayed Queen Victoria’s sword with which she knighted many famous men; this is on loan from Wilkinson Sword Ltd. The stalls of the Officers bear heraldic stall-plates. The cross and candlesticks were made by Mr Gerald Gilbert, and many other fine craftsmen from Houghtons of York have worked to make the Chapel noble and traditional in design.
The Collections
The Cathedral Collections form a unique record of the spiritual, liturgical, architectural, administrative and social life of one of the world’s outstanding buildings and its imposing predecessor, the Pre-fire Cathedral. They are maintained as an asset for current use and as a legacy for future generations.
Exterior and Churchyard
West Front
The west front of St Paul’s is dominated by a triangular relief depicting the conversion of the cathedral’s patron saint to Christianity. Above it stands the figure of St Paul himself, flanked by other apostles and the four evangelists. This was the work of Francis Bird (in 1718-21), who was greatly influenced by the church architecture of Rome. Bird also carved the statue of Queen Anne that stands in front of St Paul’s. Anne was the reigning monarch at the time of the cathedral’s completion.
The West Facade
There is also a tomb of Christopher Wren himself and a number of important artists are buried here as well. The impressive facade at the west facade of the church consists of a large portico and pediment. A relief on the tympanum depicts the conversion of Paul and was created in 1706. The portico is flanked by two towers which weren’t part of the original plan. Wren added them at the last minute, in 1707.
South Churchyard
The south churchyard was refashioned in 2008. On the pavement at the western end of the churchyard is a floor-plan on the pre-Fire cathedral with an outline of the present one superimposed on it. Chapter House
Today the Chapter House, or administrative centre for the cathedral, stands on the north side: an elegant brick building that faces into the newly developed Paternoster Square. St Paul’s Cross
Nearby, in the cathedral’s north-east churchyard, a plaque marks the location of St Paul’s Cross, a popular centre of news and comment, where during the reformation William Tyndale’s New Testament was burned because it was in English, and where generations of Londoners played their role in fomenting public opinion. The column mounted with a gilded state of St Paul also commemorates the public preaching of the Christian faith in this location.
Important Events held in St. Paul’s Cathedral
Saint Paul’s Cathedral
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Saint Paul’s Cathedral, in London, cathedral of the Anglican bishop. It is located within the central City of London, atop Ludgate Hill and northeast of Blackfriars.
A Roman temple to Diana may once have stood on the site, but the first Christian cathedral there was dedicated to St. Paul in ad 604, during the rule of King Aethelberht I. That cathedral burned, and its replacement (built 675–685) was destroyed by Viking raiders in 962. In 1087 a third cathedral erected on the site also burned.
The fourth cathedral, now known as Old St. Paul’s, was constructed of Caen stone beginning in the late 11th century. It was one of the more massive buildings in the British Isles at that time, and its spire stood higher than the dome of the present cathedral. During the English Reformation (16th century) the edifice fell into disrepair, and its nave was used as a marketplace. The spire was destroyed by lightning (and a resulting fire) in 1561 and never replaced. Major repairs were initiated in the 1630s by Inigo Jones, who oversaw the removal of shops, the renovation of walls, and the building of a much-admired portico on the western side. During the English Civil Wars (1642–51), however, the structure was severely damaged by Cromwellian cavalry troops who used it as a barracks. In the 1660s Christopher Wren was enlisted to survey and repair the cathedral, but it was destroyed in the Great Fire of London (1666) before work could begin.
Wren subsequently designed and oversaw the construction of the present cathedral, which was built mainly of Portland stone. His plans were approved in 1675, and work was carried out until 1710. During the 19th century some decorative changes were made to the interior of the cathedral in an attempt to bring it in line with Victorian tastes. In 1941, during the Battle of Britain, civil defense brigades protected the structure from fire, although it was hit directly by bombs; at one point an unexploded bomb was removed, at great risk, from the nave. Repairs were carried out following the war.
Wren’s design combined Neoclassical, Gothic, and Baroque elements in an attempt to symbolize the ideals of both the English Restoration and 17th-century scientific philosophy. His finished cathedral differed greatly from the plan approved in 1675, however. Wren apparently based many of his modifications on an earlier (1673), unapproved plan for St. Paul’s, which was first given shape in his 20-foot-long “Great Model,” now kept on display in the crypt. For further treatment of the architect’s intentions, see Sir Christopher Wren: Construction of St. Paul’s.
Among Wren’s distinguished assistants were the French Huguenot ironworker Jean Tijou, who wrought the grillwork of the choir and the iron balustrade of the southwest tower; the sculptor and carver Grinling Gibbons, who produced the wooden choir stalls, the organ case, and the bishop’s throne; the mason-contractors (and brothers) Thomas and Edward Strong; the master carpenter John Longland; and the mason Joshua Marshall.
St. Paul’s famous dome, which has long dominated the London skyline, is composed of three shells: an outer dome, a concealed brick cone for structural support, and an inner dome. The cross atop its outer dome stands nearly 366 feet (112 metres) above ground level (some 356 feet [109 metres] above the main floor of the cathedral). Below the cross are an 850-ton lantern section and the outer, lead-encased dome, both of which are supported by the brick cone. At the base of the lantern (the apex of the outer dome) is the famous Golden Gallery, which offers panoramas of London some 530 steps (and some 280 feet [85 metres]) above the ground.Farther down, at a point just below the brick cone, is the Stone Gallery, another popular viewing spot. Visible from within the cathedral is the inner dome, a masonry shell with a diameter of 101 feet (31 metres). The frescoes and grisaille of the inner dome are best admired from the Whispering Gallery (so called because a whisper from one side of the gallery can be heard from the other side), 99 feet (30 metres) above the cathedral floor. Supporting the weight and thrust of the upper dome section are buttresses and columns in a peristyle; below these, near the height of the Whispering Gallery, is a circle of 32 buttresses not visible from the ground. Eight massive piers connect the buttresses of the dome area to the floor of the cathedral.
To the north and south of the dome section are wide transepts, each with semicircular porticoes; to the east lie the choir and the Jesus Chapel, while the nave and the “front” entrance are to the west. Framing the western facade, twin bell towers rise nearly 213 feet (65 metres) above the floor. The southwest tower is known for the Geometrical Staircase (with its balustrade by Tijou), which leads to the cathedral library and archives. Accessible from the nave, the chapel of the Order of St. Michael and St. George adjoins the southwest tower, while St. Dunstan’s Chapel adjoins the northwest tower. There are some 300 monuments within the cathedral. In the Apse to the east of the Chancel is the American Memorial Chapel (formerly the Jesus Chapel), which was dedicated in 1958 to U.S. soldiers killed in World War II. From the western facade to the eastern end of the Apse, St. Paul’s measures nearly 515 feet (157 metres); including the western steps, the total length of the structure is 555 feet (170 metres).
Many notable soldiers, artists, and intellectuals have been buried in the crypt, including Lord Nelson, the duke of Wellington, and Wren himself, who was one of the first to be entombed there. Above his resting place is the epitaph composed by his son, ending with the oft-quoted sentence “Lector, si monumentum requiris, circumspice,” which may be translated “Reader, if you seek a monument, look about you.”
This article was most recently revised and updated by Amy Tikkanen, Corrections Manager.
