St Pauls Cathedral

London, England
St. Pauls Cathedral in the city of London, created by the astronomer, mathematician, and designer Sir Christopher Wren (1632 1723), is the crowning work in the large oeuvre of one of the greatest English architects of his time, perhaps of all time. With it, English architecture regained the tradition of construction that it had developed for 400 years, and that had been displaced temporarily by Italian theories of proportion and emphasis upon appearance. Although it clearly drew upon classical and Italian models, Wrens great church was primarily concerned with space and the structural systems that achieved it. The earliest church on the site was a wooden structure built in a.d. 604 by King Ethelbert of Kent for Mellitus, first bishop of the East Saxons. It burned down in 675 and was replaced by Bishop Erkenwald in 685, only to be destroyed by Viking raiders seven years later. Again rebuilt, it was again destroyed by fire in 1087. A new Norman church, now known as Old St. Pauls, was completed in 1240 after 150 years in the building. It was consecrated in 1300. A Gothic choir was added by 1313, and the following year a 489-foot (150-meter) spire was completed. By the beginning of the seventeenth century, the cathedral had fallen into disrepair and disuse. In 1633 Inigo Jones, Surveyor of the Royal Works, was instructed to restore it. He had renovated the transepts and nave in the modern