St Paul's Cathedral

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  • Mon-Sat 08:30 - 16:00

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Lonely Planet review

Occupying a superb position atop Ludgate Hill, one of London's most recognisable buildings is Sir Christopher Wren's masterwork, completed in 1710 after the previous building was destroyed in the Great Fire of 1666. The cathedral is undergoing a huge restoration project to coincide with its 300th anniversary in 2010, so some parts may be under scaffold when you visit.

Ludgate Hill has been a place of worship for almost 1400 years, the current incarnation being the fifth to stand on this site. St Paul's almost didn't make it off the drawing board, as Wren's initial designs were rejected. However, since its first service in 1697, it's held funerals for Lord Nelson, the Duke of Wellington and Winston Churchill, and has played host to Martin Luther King as well as the ill-fated wedding of Charles and Diana. For Londoners the vast dome, which still manages to loom amid the far higher skyscrapers in the Square Mile, is a symbol of resilience and pride - miraculously surviving the Blitz unscathed.

However, despite all the fascinating history and its impressive interior, people are usually most interested in climbing the dome for one of the best views of London imaginable. It's actually three domes, one inside the other, but it made the cathedral Wren's tour de force and only a handful of others throughout the world (mostly in Italy) outdo it in size. Exactly 530 stairs take you to the top, but it's a three-stage journey. The cathedral is built in the shape of a cross, with the dome at its intersection. So first find the circular paved area between the eight massive columns supporting the dome, then head to the door on the western side of the southern transept. Some 30m and precisely 259 steps above, you reach the interior walkway around the dome's base. This is the Whispering Gallery, so called because if you talk close to the wall it really does carry your words around to the opposite side, 32m away.

Climbing even more steps (another 119) you reach the Stone Gallery, which is an exterior viewing platform, with 360-degree views of London, all of which are rather obscured by pillars and other suicide-preventing measures.

The further 152 iron steps to the Golden Gallery are steeper and narrower than below but are really worth the effort as long as you don't suffer from claustrophobia. From here, 111m above London, the city opens up to you, your view unspoilt by superfluous railings; you'll be hard pushed to see anything better.

Of course, back on the ground floor, St Paul's offers plenty of riches for those who like to keep their feet firmly on its black-and-white tiled floor - and the interior has been stunningly restored in recent years. Just beneath the dome, for starters, is a compass and an epitaph written for Wren by his son: Lector, si monumentum requiris, circumspice (Reader, if you seek his monument, look around you).

In the northern aisle you'll find the All Souls' Chapel and the Chapel of St Dunstan, dedicated to the 10th-century archbishop of Canterbury, and the grandiose Duke of Wellington Memorial (1875). In the north transept chapel is Holman Hunt's celebrated painting The Light of the World , which depicts Christ knocking at an overgrown door that, symbolically, can only be opened from the inside. Beyond, in the cathedral's heart, are the particularly spectacular quire (or chancel) - its ceilings and arches dazzling with green, blue, red and gold mosaics - and the high altar. The ornately carved choir stalls by Grinling Gibbons on either side of the quire are exquisite, as are the ornamental wrought-iron gates, separating the aisles from the altar, by Jean Tijou (both men also worked on Hampton Court Palace). Walk around the altar, with its massive gilded oak canopy, to the American Memorial Chapel, a memorial to the 28,000 Americans based in Britain who lost their lives during WWII.

Around the southern side of the ambulatory is the effigy of John Donne (1573-1631). The one-time dean of St Paul's, Donne was also a metaphysical poet, most famous for the immortal lines 'No man is an island' and 'Ask not for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee' (both in the same poem!).

On the eastern side of both the north and south transepts are stairs leading down to the crypt, treasury and OBE Chapel, where weddings, funerals and other services are held for members of the Order of the British Empire. The crypt has memorials to up to 300 military demigods, including Florence Nightingale and Lord Kitchener, while both the Duke of Wellington and Admiral Nelson are actually buried here, Nelson having been placed in a black sarcophagus that is directly under the dome. On the surrounding walls are plaques in memory of those from the Commonwealth who died in various conflicts during the 20th century.

Wren's tomb is in the crypt, while architect Edwin Lutyens and poet William Blake are also remembered here. In a niche, there is also an exhibit of Wren's controversial plans for St Paul's and his actual working model. St Paul's was one of the 50 commissions the great architect was given after the Great Fire of London wiped out most of the city.

The treasury displays some of the cathedral's plate, along with some spectacular needlework, including Beryl Dean's jubilee cope (bishop's cloak) of 1977, showing spires of 73 London churches, and its matching mitre. There is a Crypt Café ( - Mon-Sat, - Sun) and the restaurant Refectory ( - Mon-Sat, - Sun), in addition to a shop ( - Mon-Sat, - Sun).

Just outside the north transept, there's a simple monument to the people of London, honouring the 32,000 civilians killed (and another 50,000 seriously injured) in the defence of the city and the cathedral during WWII. Also to the left as you face the entrance stairway is Temple Bar, one of the original gateways to the city of London. This medieval stone archway once straddled Fleet St at a sight marked by a griffin but was removed to Middlesex in 1878. Temple Bar was restored and made a triumphal return to London (albeit in a totally new place) alongside the redevelopment of Paternoster Sq in 2003.

Audioguide tours in multiple languages lasting 45 minutes cost around £4 for adults, or around £4 for seniors and students; guided tours lasting 1.5 to two hours leave the tour desk at , , and . There are free organ recitals at St Paul's at most Sundays, as well as celebrity recitals at on the first Thursday of the month between May and October. Evensong takes place at Monday to Saturday and at on Sunday.

There is limited disabled access. Call ahead for further information.