The cathedral has dominated the city's skyline for over 250 years and it remains one of the most striking buildings in the city. The clock tower on the west side houses the bell known as 'Great Paul' - at 3 meters in diameter this is the heaviest swinging bell in the country.
But the most obvious feature of the cathedral is the huge dome (7). This is the second largest cathedral dome in the world, with only the one in St Paul's in Rome being bigger. The top of the dome is 365 feet above the ground and it is over 100 feet across. It remains one of the biggest attractions of the cathedral and you can climb up inside it to the three galleries that are open to the public.
The first is the Whispering Gallery (5), which you reach after climbing over 250 steps. It is so named because of the amazing acoustics of the dome which means that if you whisper against the wall on one side of the dome, the words can be distinctly heard by someone standing on the other side - over 100 feet away! |
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The Blitz
It was during the Second World War that St Paul's became one of the nation's most well known icons.
On 7th September 1940 German bombs began to drop on the city and so what became known as the Blitz had begun. Bombs were dropped for 57 consecutive nights and bombing raids continued intermittently until 10th May 1941.
The civilian death toll was over 20,000 and more than 200,000 homes were destroyed. And yet St Paul's Cathedral remained relatively undamaged and the dome survived intact. Photos of the cathedral standing defiant amongst the wreckage around it became some of the most famous images of the war. And the photos were used as an effective propaganda symbol of Britain's strength and invincibility.
The photos are now on display at the Britain at War Museum. |
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