St. Paul's Cathedral

St. Paul's Cathedral in London (UK)

In London, St Paul's Cathedral (St. Paul), which is the largest Anglican church in Europe. Once this cathedral was considered the tallest building of the capital of Great Britain.

According to legend, on this very spot where the Cathedral was built, was once a pagan temple dedicated to the goddess Diana. Then there founded the Christian church, which was the first in London. But this is only a legend, the first historical evidence that there was a temple in the name of St. Paul, appeared at the beginning of VII century. The building is not just burned during the fire, which occurred continuously from the XI to XVI century. The former Cathedral of St. Paul can be seen only in medieval images, it also destroyed in the fire 1666godu. This church had the highest bell tower height of 520 feet (156m), record numbers of medieval Europe.

The construction of the next building is occupied by Christopher Wren, who built a cathedral in 1675-1710 years. To find the money for this magnificent building, had to impose an additional tax on coal.

Especially interesting is the dome of the building, which contributed to the project later, at the urging of Charles II. Now it is one of the most interesting sights of the capital. It is very similar to the dome of St. Peter's Basilica, which is located in Rome. During the construction of the dome using a combination of non-standard designs and materials, which makes it even survived during the bombing. These engineering ideas still admired professionals. At the top of the cathedral you can find unusual "sheptalnuyu" gallery: if you say there is at least one word in a whisper, it will be heard throughout the gallery.

First, the interior of the cathedral is not special luxury, since the Anglican tradition called for asceticism. But in 1860, created a pool of money that was supposed to raise funds for it to be able to work on the interior of the cathedral. So there openwork metal lattice, sculptures, mosaics and other amazing.

Many tourists are attracted to St. Paul's Cathedral because at this point bury celebrities who glorify the UK. Here is the tomb and its famous architect Rena. This unique building, one of the most interesting sights of London, which has no rivals in Europe.