St. Paul's: The Cathedral

Vicki had already visited St. Paul's a couple or maybe three times, and I'd visited it at least once, way back, and neither of us cares very much for the Baroque anyway. "If it ain't Baroque..." I always say. But there are some certain buildings you just have to see, out of respect for their age and history, for the art or monuments within, or maybe for the views from their top-most bits. In my case, it was all of these, plus the desire, approaching the age of 75 and suffering no less from the case of mal de debarquement syndrome I acquired in 2014, to demonstrate I could still do a very long staircase. So while Vicki did R&R on August 13th, I did St. Paul's Cathedral. For the record, it is the third of fourth cathedral on this site, built by Christopher Wren & company after the 1666 fire (we would have liked its Gothic predecessor), very much Baroque--it was designed and built during the Restoration mostly; Wren was a Royalist, a Catholic at heart, I suppose, and had visited St. Peter's in Rome for ideas--and, like most English churches, it is filled with monuments and memorials.

From Paternoster square, adjacent to the cathedral

Say what you will about Anglicanism and Henry VIII, but, it
should be noted, by way of contrast, there is no Campari stand
on Vatican square

Assorted iconic views

Nave view

Dome

North transept

South; at least they're smallish

Quire and beyond

Looking back west

All kind of domes and half-domes, filled with huge mosaics, 
just like in Rome

Organ

Nice display on Gibbons' wood-carving in the quire

Altar, etc.

Windows, yes, but nothing of the age or style that

impresses

Back west from the quire

The crypt runs pretty much the length of the building, and, except
for this chapel, is mostly monuments, memorials, etc....next post

Nice big gift shoppe to exit through, also in the crypt