St Paul’s Cathedral

Do not feed the Birds was the first thing I was told when I decided to go to St. Paul’s Cathedral, much to my disappointment. Although the old lady in Mary Poppins was able to share her generous supply of bird seed, this is no longer allowed. While this fact troubled me, it did not deter me from making the pilgrimage, and I am glad I did.

St. Paul’s is a lovely Cathedral that stands out as a landmark on the London skyline. This cathedral’s architect was Christopher Wren who gave it a more classical style described as cool, light and rational compared with the early Stuart churches (Morgan, 396). I guess I am not exactly sure what the Stuart churches are, because I still found the building to be intense and overwhelming. The building is large in an open air way, enabling it to seem airy, but it is still a rather impressive building. This Cathedral is according to the history channel only second to Westminster Abbey ( St. Paul’s Cathedral, 1) has become an icon of London.

Christopher Wren was quite the architect. Interesting enough, he was not trained as an architect, but was sent to Oxford where he studied mathematics and astronomy (Roberts, 394). Even without a formal education, he was able to design such remarkable buildings that people refer to his London. Everywhere I go, I seem to always be running into something that Christopher Wren designed. For example, we were punting down the river in Cambridge and the guide informed us that the Library at Trinity College has the mark of being designed by him. Anyway, it was still fun to go and see what could be considered his architectural masterpiece.

I decided for my trip to St. Paul’s that I would couple it with enjoying my first Anglican ceremony. I went to Evensong. As I approached the building on a Sunday evening, I could hear the bells tolling throughout the area. It was a beautiful sound. It was a sound that dominated the air until I stepped into the church itself and then a hush seemed to overwhelm this sound. The bells lost their dominance and dropped to a distant hint that could be easily forgotten.

One of the first things to stand out for me as I approached St. Paul’s Cathedral was the amazing dome. I approached from the side and as I looked up, this is what I could see. This dome was, again according to the History channel was designed to give the cathedral a more “reposeful outline than that in St. Peter’s in Rome.” The dome is truly beautiful and it dominates the landscape. I found it interesting inside the church to look up and see the beautiful paintings on the dome ceiling.

The paintings inside the church were to me surprisingly elaborate. I guess because I have seen other churches that were completely whitewashed in during the transition from Catholicism to the Anglicism, I expected people to keep to that tradition. The ceilings are not as elaborate as Catholic cathedrals in still remaining Catholic Cathedrals, but as you enter the St. Paul’s, the level of paintings on the ceiling increased until it reached its max at the Altar.

St. Paul’s really is a beautiful Cathedral. I did feel sometimes that it was a little too ornate, but the overall effect of the building is aesthetically pleasing. I really enjoyed going to Evensong there and hearing the choir's voices echo through the old passageways of the building, delighting even the birds resting on the steps outside.

Hibbert, Christopher. The Story of England. London: Phaidon Press Limited, 2006.

Morgan, Kenneth O. The Oxford History of Britain. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999.

Roberts, Clayton. A History of England: Prehistory to 1714. United States of America: Prentice-Hall, 1998.

St. Paul’s Cathedral. May 24, 2008. The History Channel: 2006.