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St Paul’s Cathedral, London by Mike McBey –

Top 10 Facts about St Paul’s Cathedral

St Paul’s Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in London that is the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London. It is on Ludgate Hill at the highest point of the City of London and is a Grade I listed building. Its dedication to Paul the Apostle dates back to the original church on this site, founded in AD 604.

The present structure, dating from the late 17th century, was designed in the English Baroque style by Sir Christopher Wren. Its construction, completed in Wren’s lifetime, was part of a major rebuilding program in the city after the Great Fire of London. The earlier Gothic cathedral (Old St Paul’s Cathedral), largely destroyed in the Great Fire, was a central focus for medieval and early modern London, including Paul’s walk and St Paul’s Churchyard, being the site of St Paul’s Cross. 

Here are the top 10 facts about St Paul鈥檚 cathedral.

1. St Paul’s Cathedral is located on the highest point in the City of London

St Paul鈥檚 Cathedral is one of the most famous buildings in London. It鈥檚 located right within the historical center of the city called the City of London and it serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London.

It was constructed on top of a little hill called 鈥淟udgate Hill,鈥� which is the highest point in the city of London at 17.6 meters (58 feet) above sea level. The exact highest point is just north of the Cathedral.

2. St Paul’s Cathedral was dedicated to Paul the Apostle

St Paul’s Cathedral by Sebastiandoe5 –

There was a church on its location as early as 604 A.D. There鈥檚 mention that the first bishop was a man named Mellitus who lived in the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of East Saxon of which London was the capital at that time.

The dedication of the cathedral to Paul the Apostle dates back to this period in the early 7th century. Several cathedrals were destroyed and rebuilt before the Norman invasion of England in 1066 after a brief period of Paganism, which lasted less than a century starting in the year 616 A.D.

3. The Old St Paul鈥檚 Cathedral was built in the Gothic Style

While the older cathedrals were built in the Romanesque architectural style, Old St Paul鈥檚 was a massive Gothic structure. This means it had much higher windows in the upper parts of the building along with pointed arches.

Old St Paul鈥檚 vault was ribbed and partially decorated but was largely constructed with wood instead of stone, which obviously meant the building was more prone to fires.

4. St Paul鈥檚 Cathedral was one of the biggest churches in the world in medieval times

London St Paul’s Cathedral by Nikolai Karaneschev –

An enlargement project of the already massive church was started in the year 1256 and was completed in the year 1314. This made it one of the biggest churches in the world in medieval times!

Old St Paul鈥檚 was at least 585 feet (178 meters) long and 100 feet (30 meters) wide, and had a spire that was 489 feet (149 meters) in height. This means just a few churches were higher, including the Lincoln Cathedral which was the tallest building in the world at the time, and just one that was longer, which was the Abbey Church of Cluny in France.

5. St Paul鈥檚 Cathedral has been destroyed several times by natural causes

The church has been struck by lightning quite a few times. It was eventually destroyed when it was struck heavily in the year 1561. The building was further destroyed by Parliamentary forces during the English Civil War (1642-1651). 

The coup de gr芒ce for Old St Paul鈥檚 happened just 15 years after the English Civil War had ended though. The Great Fire of London in 1666 destroyed the church, and even though there were some still hoping it could be restored, the damage was too extensive and a new Cathedral had to be built.

6. St Paul鈥檚 Cathedral鈥檚 architect built over 50 churches in London

St Paul’s Anglican Cathedral Rockhampton by RegionalQueenslander –

The Great Fire of London destroyed pretty much the entire historical city which was located within the Ancient Roman City Walls. This included 87 parish churches and Old St Paul鈥檚. With no possibility of restoring the old church, an architect was engaged and he had the complicated task of designing a church that was 鈥淗andsome and noble to all the ends of it and the reputation of the City and the nation.鈥�

Sir Christopher Wren (1632-1723), who was only 33 when the Great Fire of London happened, was assigned this job on July 30, 1669. He would end up designing 52 churches within the City of London, making him one of the most renowned and prolific architects in Britain鈥檚 history!

7. Redesigning St Paul鈥檚 Cathedral took several years 

Designing the new St Paul鈥檚 Cathedral didn鈥檛 happen overnight. It took several years and multiple different plans before one was finally picked. It had to be both a place of worship and an iconic landmark for the city of London.

The fifth design was finally the right one, after making immense changes to the original approved design that he created referred to as the 鈥淲arrant Design.鈥� This looked too similar to the Old Paul鈥檚 design and was basically an improved version of the old Gothic church. The final version took a lot of inspiration from the St Peter鈥檚 Basilica in Rome, which was designed mainly by Bramante and Michelangelo.

8. St Paul鈥檚 Cathedral鈥檚 most prominent feature is its massive dome

St Paul’s Cathedral Interior Dome by Diliff –

The dome itself consists of 2 clearly defined stories of masonry, making it a marvelous architectural achievement and one of the most beautiful and best-recognized domes in the world.

The interior design was inspired by the world-famous dome of the Pantheon in Rome. There鈥檚 an oculus at the apex of the dome and 8 painted decorations by Sir James Thornhill were integrated into the architectural design. These paintings depict 8 scenes from the life of Paul the Apostle.

9. The construction of St Paul鈥檚 Cathedral took about 35 years to complete

The construction of the Cathedral finally began in the year 1675 even though the Cathedral was consecrated on December 2, 1697. 

This means that the church was completed within its architect鈥檚 life and Sir Christopher Wren was able to enjoy the finished work

10. It cost over 拢165 million to construct St Paul鈥檚 Cathedral

The Cathedral is about 574 feet (175 meters) long of which 223 feet (68 meters) is the nave and 167 feet (51 meters) in the choir. The width of the building is 121 feet (37 meters) and extends 246 feet (75 meters) across the transepts.

After completion, the topping-out stone was laid on October 26, 1708, the building was further decorated with statues and ornaments designs, something that lasted well into the 1720s.

It鈥檚 estimated that the total cost of the building was about 拢1,095,556, which amounts to over 拢165 million today. The people paid because most of the money came from an increase in taxes on coal.