There’s been so many times that I’ve passed St Paul’s Cathedral and recently realised I still have never visited.From many high spots in the city St Paul’s can be spotted. After I shared my secret with friends that I’d never ogled the interiors of this iconic piece of architecture, it seemed I wasn’t the only one that had the same confession. Feeling determined to explore more of my home city we booked tickets to visit on the weekend.
After a fun night out in the Trailer of Happiness sipping their lethal special Don Zombie cocktails; a mix of nine rums and absinthe, we slowly and I mean very slowly emerged towards St Paul’s.
En route we realised that access to the cathedral closed at 4pm, we sped up but arrived just short of 4pm. Equipped with our best puppy dog faces the gentleman on the door gave into our whimpering ways and let us inside.
In our temperamental mode we slowly soaked in the magical interior that we were submersed in. We strolled through the Nave, a long central area of the cathedral that lead us towards the central dome. Fascinated by the incredible scale and intricate details we admired the hanging chandeliers, carved pillars and elaborate painted murals overhead. We also passed The Great West Door, which is nine metres high and rarely used except for formal occasions nowadays.
St Paul’s Cathedral is built in the shape of a cross. The cathedral has one of the largest domes in the world at over 110 metres high! The large dome is formed at the intersection of the arms on the cross. The building has a three-dome structure, the impressive inner dome murals were painted by James Thornhill in a four year period back in 1715. Although, the original murals no longer exist due to climate issues and had to be repainted again in 1853.
The inner dome rises in proportion to the internal architecture and the outer dome is far larger which allows it to be visible on London’s skyline.
Check out this spy hole down, a long long way down might I add.
All of a sudden we realised that we could spend all day just staring at the inner dome and before we knew it the cathedral was nearly closing. We started our tour up the stairs, 1161 steps to be exact.
The first 259 steps lead us to the Whispering Gallery, by this point we certainly weren’t talking (all of us were out of breathe as we raced to the top). The Whispering Gallery wraps around the interior dome. The architecture of the building allows a whisper from one side to be heard on the opposite side.
After a slight recovery session we ventured up the next 376 steps to the Stone Gallery.
The Stone Gallery wraps around the exterior of the building and let us catch a great view of London as the sun started to set.
The last section was 526 steps up an iron spiral staircase and our hangovers started to resurface as we stepped round and round until we reached the Golden Gallery.
The Golden Gallery was a tight viewing space right on the top of the cathedral with incredible views and was definitely worth our hard (grumbling) efforts.
Once we’d taken our snaps and were ready to descend we whizzed down the steps in no time.
We stood outside of the West Front of St Paul’s, which is dominated, by a triangular relief and a figure of St Paul.
Proud of our achievements we watched as the sun glistened on the exterior of the building and decided where to head next.
After all those steps we felt rather thirsty and rewarded our efforts at Madison’s bar.
A rooftop bar located overlooking St Paul’s with panoramic views of the cathedral and night sky.
The interior has glass-ceiling panels, which allows natural light to bounce through with low-level lighting, a mix of relaxed seating help create a very chilled vibe.
We found a cosy spot outside, perched by heaters and watched the sun set over St Paul’s.
With a colourful helping of cocktails we sipped happily and bopped away to the evening beats out in the fresh sky.
Days like this remind me just how much I love London.
