Photo by the author. Taken in the late 2000’s from the London Eye ferris wheel.

My Brief Stop at St Paul’s Cathedral in London

Visiting old cathedrals in Europe is one of my greatest travel pleasures

I am still trying to find my niche, so please bear with me.

At first I thought it might be politics and current events.

That turned out to be too controversial.

Then I thought maybe money and personal finance.

That turned out to be too boring.

🗺️ ✈️ 🧳 Today, I’m talking travel. 🧳 ✈️ 🗺️

Maybe staying in one niche is overrated after all.

FYI: My travel photos are all old now. I haven’t been anywhere in years, even before COVID hit.

But that’s ok.

Photo by the author. Taken in the late 2000's.

Today, we are going to the iconic St Paul’s Cathedral in London. Visiting old cathedrals in Europe was one of my greatest pleasures in travel.

The tour group I was with was only on a walking tour. Unfortunately, I did not get a chance to go inside.

It was still an absolute pleasure to see in person.

Five Incarnations of St. Paul’s

The current version of St Paul’s was completed in 1710. It is the fifth iteration.

The first incarnation dates all the way back to 604 CE!

Incarnations one through four were usually destroyed by fire. However, early on there was some neglect to the very first St Paul’s.

This was because the region was keen to pivot back to its original pagan roots.

The fourth incarnation St Paul’s Cathedral (known as“Old St. Paul’s”). Illustration from a 1913 book called “Early Christian Architecture” by Francis Bond (sourced from Wikipedia)

The Making of a British Architectural Icon

Prior to Henry the VIII establishing the Church of England in the 1500’s, St. Paul’s was of the Roman Catholic denomination.

The architect, Sir Christopher Wren, is buried there. In addition to specializing in architecture, Wren was also a physicist, astronomer, and mathematician.

Photo by the author. Taken in the late 2000's.

In recent centuries, St. Paul’s has had miraculous staying power.

It survived suffragette bombing attempts in the early 1910’s and the Blitz during the 1940's.

In modern times, it was the location of Occupy movement protests in 2011 and a thwarted terror plot in 2019.

On this trip, I found the classic, timeless, centuries-old architectural designs of Europe to have little competition from the newer American architecture.

Although, I do love Frank Lloyd Wright.

Thank you for reading!