St. Paul's Cathedral, a masterpiece of architect Christopher Wren, is one of the two most important Anglican basilicas in London.
It stands at Paul's Churchyard and the style is the result of extensive architectural research.
Wren was in fact clearly influenced by the style of Palladio which inspired him as well as by the more classic style of Inigo Jones and the Roman Baroque of the eighteenth century. The dome, 111 meters high, is actually a "false dome" that takes its architectural complexity from that of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.
Initially designed to be decorated with mosaics, it was then entrusted to James Thornill, a painter known for having worked at Hampton Court, who created wonderful frescoes restored to their former glory thanks to an important restoration and cleaning work. Inside, the English Cathedral preserves an important artistic collection known in particular for the works of sacred art and for the impressive mosaics of the Venetian school with a clear reference to the Ravenna tradition. Here, moreover, there are the graves of famous people such as Wren himself, Winston Churchill, the Duke of Wellington, Henry Moore, Sir. Alexander Fleming and Lord Horace, fallen admiral in the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805.
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