| Product: |
St Paul's Cathedral |
| Date: |
15/08/01 (101 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: Beautiful architecture, Amazing views from the top, The Light of the World
Disadvantages: None
I had visited this beautiful place many years ago as a child and my dad and I had climbed up as far as the famous Whispering Gallery. We did not go right up to the top as mom was waiting for us at ground level – she’s not too good with climbs and heights! I had always wanted to return to complete the climb but had never got round to it until recently.
I had made a list of all the things that I wanted to do during my lifetime and one of these was to climb to the very top of St Paul’s Cathedral. A friend of mine lives in London and I went to stay with him for a weekend so that I could get to a work seminar near Tower Bridge early on Monday morning. As a surprise he organised a trip to St Paul’s Cathedral and took me to the top, even though he’s not very keen on heights either!
St Paul’s Cathedral is situated just north of the River Thames in Central London within yards of the St Paul’s tube station on the Central Line. The dome of this impressive building is visible for miles around. You get a lovely view of it from the river cruise, which runs from Greenwich to the Houses of Parliament. If you look to the north as you sail down the river St Paul’s Cathedral is suddenly framed through a sudden gap in the buildings.
St Paul’s Cathedral was designed by Sir Christopher Wren and is constructed of Portland Stone. Building began in 1675 and it was completed in 1710, and it replaced the former Gothic cathedral from the 13th century, which had been destroyed by The Great Fire of London in 1666.
The top of the cathedral is 365 feet from the ground and the dome, supported by 12 massive buttresses, is 112 feet in diameter.
If you want to climb St Paul’s cathedral you must pay a small charge towards the upkeep. It costs more than 4 million pounds a year to keep St Paul’s open that’s about £7 per minute!
The first place you reach after climbing 259stairs is
The Whispering Gallery. The acoustics are such that whispers from one side of the gallery can be heard clearly on the other side over 100 feet away!
You can then continue climbing the stairs as they circle, inside the wall cavity, around the dome until you get to the first viewing platform. You can then climb flights of wooden stairs to reach the very top. These stairs are quite narrow but don’t worry about meeting someone going in the opposite direction as there is one set of stairs for people going up and another set for those coming down.
The views over the City of London from the top of the cathedral are amazing. I am not keen on heights at all, if I feel the least bit unsafe, but up here I felt completely safe with the strong railings all the way round the edge of the platform, and I was able to enjoy the view without any fear.
Back down in the main body of the cathedral one of the most powerful exhibits, for me anyway, is the painting called The Light of the World by William Hollum Hunt, depicting Christ knocking at a door. This is a symbol of Him knocking at the door of a heart and asking the question inscribed at the foot of the painting – “Behold I stand at the door and knock. If any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me.” Wherever you stand before the painting the eyes of Christ are looking straight at you.
I once read a story about a guide showing people around the cathedral who stopped at the painting and, after describing it, she told the assembled gathering that the original of the painting had been sold for many millions of pounds. One of the visitors said ‘The original of that painting was sold for thirty pieces of silver’. For the non-Christians amongst you that is the amount the Judas Iscariot was paid for betraying Christ to the Roman soldiers.
Back to the cathedral – there are many famous tombs in the
crypt including those of Wren, Turner, Nelson, Wellington and Reynolds. Wren’s epitaph is inscribed in Latin beneath the dome and translates as ‘Reader, if you seek his monument, look around you’.
The south-west tower contains a huge bell known as Great Paul, which weighs 17 tons. Now that would give you a headache if it fell on you!
The High Altar was consecrated in 1958 after bombing in 1940 damaged the original one. There is a chapel dedicated to 28,000 US servicemen who lost their lives during the war.
St Dunstan’s Chapel is set aside for private prayer and there is always a priest or a sister available for spiritual counsel.
As you would expect there is a shop in St Paul’s selling a good selection of souvenirs. In fact as I sit at my computer here I am facing a print of The Light of the World. There are also toilet facilities.
St Paul’s is a working cathedral and there are four services each day to which anyone is warmly invited to attend.
Even if you have no religious convictions I would recommend a visit to St Paul’s for the sheer awe-inspiring beauty of the place. If you are a Christian then it will be a truly humbling experience.
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