St. Paul's Cathedral

 Today we headed over to St. Pauls Cathedral and had the opportunity to walk all throughout it. It was an absolutely gorgeous church, and is tied for my favorite one that I have seen with the chapel inside of the Tower of London. There is really fascinating history both inside and out of the Cathedral, but my favorite part was getting to walk up all 528 steps to the very top of the building and overlook London. If you look in the center of the picture below, just across River Themes, you can see Shakespeare's Globe! 

Taken from the top of the Cathedral. 
This is Sophia's picture, not mine. I was too scared to take my phone out. 

Located outside of the Cathedral is a plaque on the ground marking were Paul's Cross originally stood. In 1635 this cross was removed and never put back up. Opposite from traditional churches, people would congregate outside of the cathedral near the cross to listen to mass. 

Plaque outside the cathedral. 


Similar to Shakespeare's Globe, in 1666 St. Paul's Cathedral burnt down during the Great Fire of London. The cathedral that we walked through today was finished in 1710. After two weeks of seeing major historical sites located all over London, I am beginning to truly understand just how devastating the Great Fire of London was. I urge you all to do some further research into the Great Fire, as it is incomprehensible how many homes, businesses, and places of worship were absolutely destroyed. It was surreal to see the effigy of John Donne within St. Paul's Cathedral, as it was the only thing not destroyed when the cathedral burned during the Great Fire of London, and it is still on display today. 

John Donne Effigy

Some other cool things that I saw and learned during my tour of the cathedral was the WW2 dedication behind the alter at the very back of the church and that Princess Diana was married here at St. Paul's Cathedral. I was surprised about Diana getting married at St. Pauls rather than Westminster Abbey, as I learned that most royal ceremonies happen at Westminster Abbey such as weddings, coronations, and funerals. 

WW2 monument. 

Inside of the cathedral. 

My two questions for today are: 

1) How many statues and artifacts relating to important historical figured were destroyed in the Great Fire of London? Being that the fire spread so wide and was so damaging, I can only assume that there are hundred of artifacts that no longer exist such as statues, paintings, and so much more. Are we still discovering new artifacts that were destroyed in this devastating fire? 

2) Seeing the WW2 dedication in the back of the cathedral today was the first time that I have seen something like that in one of the buildings that we toured. What other dedications are located in other buildings that I may have missed? Why was this WW2 dedication located in St. Paul's rather than Westminster Abbey or Southwark Cathedral? Was it an easy decision to put this relatively modern day dedication inside the cathedral? 





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