St+Paul´s+Cathedral



===St. Paul Cathedral ===


===**The task of designing a replacement structure was officially assigned to Sir Christopher Wren on 30 July 1669. He had previously been put in charge of designing over fifty other City churches. ** === ===**Wren had begun advising on the repair of the cathedral before the Great Fire of 1666, in fact as early as 1661. This included drawings for the addition of a dome to the existing building to replace the dilapidated spire, and a restoration of the interiors that would complement the 1630 Inigo Jones-designed facade. After the fire, the ruins of the building were still thought to be workable, but ultimately the entire structure was demolished in the early 1670s to start afresh. ** === ===**After five drafts, the final design was strongly rooted in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. The saucer domes that were eventually added to the design were inspired by François Mansart's Val-de-Grâce, which Wren had seen during a trip to Paris in 1665. The date of the laying of the first stone of the cathedral is disputed. One contemporary account says it was on 21 June 1675, another on 25 June and a third on 28 June. There is, however, general agreement that it was laid in June 1675. Edward Strong later claimed it was laid by his elder brother, Thomas Strong, one of the two master stonemasons appointed by Wren at the beginning of the work. ** === ===**On 2 December 1697, thirty-two years and three months after a spark from Farryner's bakery had caused the Great Fire of London, St Paul's Cathedral came into use. The widower King William III had been scheduled to appear but, uncomfortable in crowds and public displays, had bowed out at the last minute. The crowd of both the great and the small was so big, and their attitude towards William so indifferent, that he was scarcely missed. The Right Reverend Henry Compton, Bishop of London, preached the sermon. It was based on the text of Psalm 122, "I was glad when they said unto me: Let us go into the house of the Lord." The first regular service was held on the following Sunday. ** ===


//<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Sir Christopher Wren // //<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Went to dine with some men // //<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">He said, "If anyone calls, // //<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Say I'm designing Saint Paul's." //

//<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">by Edmund Clerihew Bentley //