Day 2 of London

Day 2 started with a fantastic tour of St. Paul’s Cathedral. St. Paul’s was designed by Sir Christopher Wren in the late 17th century and has been home to the Cathedral Church of the Diocese of London for over 1,400 years.

The exterior of the building only whets your appetite for what you will see inside.

Once I was inside, I was amazed by its size. I knew it was big, but it was so open, with massive arches supporting this beauty. Coming from an architectural/engineering background, I am easily amazed by ancient buildings, knowing what tools, materials, and artistry they used for construction that could never be matched today. Yes, we have amazing structures today, but they can not compare to these 17th and 18th century works of art.

As you walk the aisles of this building, you will see what I am talking about.

This is the overall view of the nave, which shows the height of the walls and the lower section of the dome. If you look at the first level of the dome, called the Whispering Gallery, you can see cages of protection for those who chose to walk up the 257 steps to view the floor at 98 feet high. My daughter did that while I had the sense to sit quietly and enjoy the view. You can then go another 376 steps, 174 feet from the Cathedral floor, to see the spectacular view outside from the Stone Gallery. Higher still is the Golden Gallery, 279 feet from the cathedral floor.

Below are some shots taken while I waited for my daughter as she explored the Whispering and Stone galleries.

At first, I thought I had taken the same picture twice, but the statues are different. This shows the consistency of the design while adding artistic differences.

The Quire, where the clergy and choir sit, is located between the Dome Altar and the High Altar. It has beautifully designed wood carvings, with

The altar is a raised platform where communion or offerings are placed. St. Paul’s has two altars on the cathedral floor; the Dome Altar pictured above is on one end of the Quire, and the High Altar pictured below is on the opposite end of the Quire.

The pulpit is located between the Dome Altar and the Quire and is a beautifully carved raised platform with a spiral staircase.

As you walk behind the Quire, you notice that the woodwork on the back is also beautiful. And just beyond that is the entrance to the High Altar.

Other things of interest were the plaques showing the church leaders from 1090 to the present.

Before we visit the Crypt pictures, there was one door that caught my eye. It seemed to go outside, but not one that we would use. The crypt was accessed through stairs on the opposite side of the Cathedral.

Fortunately for me, the crypt had a handicap accessible lift, and they let us use it. Like the All Saints church, there were graves laid in the floor, where people now walked. Coming from south Georgia and the ghost stories my grandmother used to tell, this gave me the “heebie jeebies”.

You can see several tombstones, most of which were dated in the mid-18oos. This is the altar and pulpit used for funerals. Some of the older tombs were above ground and very ornate with statues or ornate crypts.

Arthur, Duke of Wellington, was known for defeating Napoleon Bonaparte at Waterloo in 1815.

Another famous name in this crypt was Florence Nightingale. While it was unclear if she was actually buried there, she was memorialized there.

I know this was a long post, but there was a lot to share. There was a lot more we saw on day 2, but that will have to be on another post.

Always remember to show kindness where you can and sometimes be kind when it’s not fair because, at some level, kindness always wins.