St. Paul's Cathedral

St. Paul's Cathedral is unique among the cathedrals that we have visited thus far, both in atmosphere and in its history.  Because most of the windows in St. Paul's are clear rather than stained glass, the interior is brightly lit.  The interior and exterior have also been thoroughly cleaned in the past decade.  Historically, St. Paul's is significant because it was the first cathedral built after England's break with "the church in Rome."  The people's cathedral is the first great Anglican cathedral.  Some of the most magnificent mosaics we have seen were in the altar areas of the church.  The interior dome of St. Paul's, however, contains monochromatic paintings because the committee felt to do a mosaic in the dome would make the church too much like the great Catholic cathedrals.  Photographs are not permitted in St. Paul's, so here are a few from the exterior and from the gallery at the top of the dome looking out over London.

 A view of the dome of St. Paul's on our approach

The structure is so massive that I had to cross the street and move about a block down the street to get it all in the frame.

The North Tower of the Facade

The South Tower of the Facade

Jordan, Carl, and Robert climbed to the very top of the dome for a better view of London.  Being both claustrophobic (the stairways to many of these heights are both tight and have low ceilings) and acrophobic, I avoided these situations.

Jordan's favorite "thing" on the trip has been climbing to the top of monuments:  

The Arc d' Triomphe, Sacre Coeur, and now St. Paul's.

At the top of the dome, something like 320 meters up, is a piece of thick glass where you can look down and see the floor of the cathedral.  Jordan has absolutely no fear of heights; however, she did get a little concerned when a German man began jumping up and down on this thick piece of glass.

A view of the Thames from the top of St. Paul's.  In the distance you can see the Eye of London Ferris Wheel.

A view of the top of the South Tower from the vantage of the top of the dome.

A more complete view of the South Tower from the dome.

Don't know what this is, but it is an amazing shot.

While Jordan was leaning over the rail taking the pictures, the twins were hugging the wall.

Another shot that includes the many cranes that dot the skyline in London, building in preparation for the 2012 Summer Olympics.

A shot of the Millennium Bridge.  We were surprised to see it, since we saw it destroyed at the beginning of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part I.

[The HP reference is a shout out to Rachel.  Haven't yet found the Ministry of Magic, but still looking.]