St Paul's Cathedral

St Paul's Cathedral

St. Paul's Churchyard London EC4M 8AD United Kingdom

One of the most recognizable symbols of London, St Paul's Cathedral is a must-visit destination in London.

Buy tickets online - an online ticket is less expensive and gets you a fast-track entry.


Some Facts and Figures:

St Paul’s is the only cathedral to have been designed, built and completed by a single architect. It took 35 years to build, 1675–1710.

The present St Paul’s is the fourth to occupy the site on Ludgate Hill; the first cathedral dedicated to St Paul was built in 604 AD.

St Paul’s actually has three domes: an inner dome, a brick cone that supports the lantern, and the outer dome ‘skin’. The inner dome is 225ft high with a diameter of 102 ft. The whole structure weighs 64,000 tonnes.

The golden ball on the top of the dome is six feet in diameter, with room inside for ten people. The golden cross on top of the dome is 355.5ft from the ground.

There are over six million pieces of mosaic in St Paul’s Cathedral.

The St Paul’s Cathedral Grand Organ has 7,256 pipes, 108 stops and 5 manuals. Both Mendelssohn and Handel played the St Paul’s organ.

The crypt of St Paul’s is the largest in Western Europe, and unusually for a cathedral, is the exact ‘footprint’ of the cathedral floor.

St Paul’s was the venue for some of the nation’s grandest funerals, including Admiral Lord Nelson (1806), Arthur, Duke of Wellington (1852) and Sir Winston Churchill (1965).

The crypt is the final resting place for many famous names including Nelson, Wellington, Joseph Turner and Sir Alexander Fleming.

Sir Christopher Wren is also buried here, in a very plain grave. On the wall at the head of his tomb is a plain inscription, in Latin, arranged by his son. It translates as "If you seek his monument, look around you". Wren himself had not wanted a memorial at all.

Useful Information

St Paul’s Cathedral is open to visitors Monday to Saturday from 8.30am to 4pm (last admission).

Once inside St Paul’s the galleries are open from 9.30am to 4.15pm. The cathedral closes for sightseeing at 4.30pm.

The cathedral is sometimes closed for special services and events - check online at www.stpauls.co.uk/calendar

See St Paul's as a part of double-decker sightseeing tour, stop #17 (admission to St Paul's is not included).

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