THE REBUILT OF LONDON BY CHRISTOPHER WREN

The Great fire of London

The Great Fire of London swept through the central parts of the English city from Sunday, 2 September to Thursday,

6 September 1666. The fire gutted the medieval City of London inside the old Roman city wall. It threatened but did

not reach the City of Westminster, Charles II's Palace of Whitehall, or most of the suburban slums. It destroyed 13,200

houses, 87 parish churches, St Paul's Cathedral, and most of the buildings of the City authorities. It is estimated to

have destroyed the homes of 70,000 of the city's 80,000 inhabitants.

London in the 1660s By the 1660s, London was by far the largest city in

Britain, estimated at half a million inhabitants.

However, due to the Great Plague of London during the

previous winter, its population had decreased.

By the late 17th century, the City proper (the area

bounded by the City wall and the River Thames) was

only a part of London, covering 700 acres, and home to

about 80,000 people. The City was surrounded by a ring

of inner suburbs where most Londoners lived. The City

was then, as well as nowadays, the commercial heart of

the capital, and was the largest market and busiest port

in England, dominated by the trading and manufacturing

classes.

The aristocracy shunned the City and lived either in the

countryside beyond the slum suburbs, or in the

exclusive Westminster district (the modern West End),

the site of King Charles II's court at Whitehall. Wealthy

people preferred to live at a convenient distance from

the traffic-clogged, polluted, unhealthy City, especially

after it was hit by the devastating outbreak of bubonic

plague (1665).Central London in the 1660s, with the burnt area shown in pink

Origin of the fire

The Great Fire started at the bakery of Thomas Farriner (or Farynor) on Pudding Lane shortly after midnight onSunday, 2 September, and spread rapidly west across the City of London. The major firefighting technique of thetime was to create firebreaks by means of demolition; this was critically delayed owing to the indecisivenessof Lord Mayor of London Sir Thomas Bloodworth. By the time large-scale demolitions were ordered on Sundaynight, the wind had already fanned the bakery fire into a firestorm that defeated such measures. The fire pushednorth on Monday into the heart of the City.

The blaze of flames

The fire broke out uncontrolled for three days stopping near TempleChurch but continuing towards Westminster. The fears of the homelessfocused on the French and Dutch, England's enemies in the ongoingSecond Anglo-Dutch War; these substantial immigrant groups becamevictims of lynchings and street violence. On Tuesday, the fire spread overmost of the City, destroying St Paul's Cathedral and leaping the RiverFleet to threaten King Charles II's court at Whitehall. The social andeconomic problems created by the disaster were overwhelming.Evacuation from London and resettlement elsewhere were stronglyencouraged by Charles II, who feared a London rebellion amongst thedispossessed refugees.

It was only on Wednesday (the fourth day) that the flaming systemmanaged to block its spread, when the destroyed area went fromWhitehall in the west to the Tower of London in the east.

Charles II, the King of England

The fire toll

The death toll is unknown but was traditionally thought to have been relatively small, as only six verified deaths were recorded. This reasoning has recently been challenged on the grounds that the deaths of poor and middle-class people were not recorded; moreover, the heat ofthe fire may have cremated many victims, leaving no recognisable remains.A melted piece of pottery on display at the Museum ofLondon found by archaeologists in Pudding Lane, where the fire started,shows that the temperature reached 1,250 °C (2,280 °F; 1,520 K).

It destroyed 13,200 houses, 87 parish churches, St Paul's Cathedral,and most of the buildings of theCity authorities. It is estimated to have destroyed the homes of 70,000 ofthe city's 80,000 inhabitants.

The new project of the cityTwo commissions, both of three members, werecommissioned to rebuild the city after the fire: one,appointed by the King, included Christopher Wren, theother, appointed by city officials, included Robert Hooke.Wren and Hooke had the main part in the reconstructionwork both for their public role and as private architects.The original plan was to rebuild the city in brick andstone, with a grid plan, and avenues and squares in the"north-continental" style, but since the foundations ofmany buildings had survived, the legal disputes over theownership of the land ended the idea of the grid. Startingfrom 1667 the Parliament raised funds for thereconstruction by taxing coal and the city was rebuilt onthe existing road surface, but in brick and stone and witha better sewer and road system. This is the main reasonwhy London today is a modern city that maintains amedieval street design. Christopher Wren and RobertHooke also rebuilt St. Paul's Cathedral 11 years after thefire.

John Evelyn's plan, never carried out, for rebuilding a radically different City of London

Christopher Wren's rejected plan for the rebuilding of London

Sources about the fireThe main sources about the fire are two diaries: John Evelyn's diary and Samuel Pepys' diary.

John Evelyn (1620-1706)Samuel Pepys 1633-1703

Samuel Pepys

Samuel Pepys (23 February 1633 – 26 May 1703) wasadministrator of the navy of England and Member ofParliament. He is famous for the diary he kept for adecade while he was still a relatively young man. Pepyshad no maritime experience, but he rose to be the ChiefSecretary to the Admiralty under both King Charles IIand King James II through patronage, hard work and histalent for administration. His influence and reforms atthe Admiralty were important in the earlyprofessionalisation of the Royal Navy. The detailedprivate diary that Pepys kept from 1660 until 1669 wasfirst published in the 19° century and is one of the mostimportant primary sources for the English Restorationperiod. It provides a combination of personal revelationand eyewitness accounts of great events, such as theGreat Plague of London, the Second Dutch War and theGreat Fire Of London.

A decade long work.

After getting married and moving to ahouse in Axe Yard, King Street, SamuelPepys started writing his famous diary. Thediary covers a unique period in Englishhistory. It gives details of the Restorationperiod, the war with Holland in 1665-1667,the Great Plague of 1665 and the Great Fireof London in 1666. It is considereda withness of the life of the seventeenthcentury and it helps us to understand howmiddle-classes people of the time saw theircontemporary world.

The Great Plague, 1665.

Clerk of Acts to the Navy Board.

Pepys was very serious about his work. When, in1660, Charles II was invited to return to England, heaccompanied his master Edward Montagu, I Earl ofSandwich to the Continent and came back on the sameship with the king. In that days Charles II appointedPepys as Clerk of Acts to the Navy Board, that is aposition of responsibility witch involved him in navalmatters and in the organizing of ships and supplies inthe war with Holland.

Samuel Pepys (1633-1703) was Clerk of the Acts to the Navy Board

The last year of writing.His job required him to meet many people todispense money and sign contracts. He oftencomplained about how he "wasted his time" when hewent to some place or a tavern to find that the personhe was looking for was not there. This was constantfrustration for Pepys.

Throughout the period of the diary his health, andin particular his sight, suffered from long hours ofwork. At the end of May 1669 he grudginglyconcluded that for the health of his eyes he wouldhave to completely stop writing, and from then ondictate notes and letters to his employees. Thisalso meant that he could no longer write his diary.Together with his wife he took a holiday in France andThe Netherlands from June to October 1669, but ontheir return Elizabeth fell ill and died on November10, 1669. Pepys erected a monument in the church ofSt Olave's, Hart Street in London, in her memory.

The diary of Samuel Pepys

Pepys' diary is a source which provides many detailsof everyday life of an upper-middle-class manduring the seventeenth century. In fact historianshave been using his diary to gain greater insight andunderstanding of life in the London of the 17thcentury.

His diary talks about his daily life (f. ex. the time hegot up in the morning and the weather), thecontemporary court and theatre and the mostsignificant and turbulent events of his nation.

He wrote shorthand and sometimes in a "code" ofvarious Spanish, French, and Italian words becausehe didn’t plan on his contemporaries ever seeing hisdiary; instead, he did intend future generations to seethe diary, as evidenced by its inclusion in his libraryand its catalogue before his death along with theshorthand guide he used and the elaborate planningby which he ensured his library.

• Here is shown an extract from the Samuel Pepys’ diary. It is September 2nd 1666 and the fire breaks out in London.

2nd September (1666)

“(Lord’s day). Some of our mayds sitting up late lastnight to get things ready against our feast to-day, Janecalled us up about three in the morning, to tell us of agreat fire they saw in the City. So I rose and slipped onmy nightgowne, and went to her window, and thought itto be on the backside of Marke-lane at the farthest; but,being unused to such fires as followed, I thought it farenough off; and so went to bed again and to sleep.About seven rose again to dress myself, and therelooked out at the window, and saw the fire not so muchas it was and further off. So to my closett to set thingsto rights after yesterday’s cleaning. By and by Janecomes and tells me that she hears that above 300houses have been burned down to-night by the fire wesaw, and that it is now burning down all Fish-street, byLondon Bridge.

So I made myself ready presently, and walked to theTower, and there got up upon one of the high places, Sir J.Robinson’s little son going up with me; and there I did seethe houses at that end of the bridge all on fire, and aninfinite great fire on this and the other side the end of thebridge; which, among other people, did trouble me forpoor little Michell and our Sarah on the bridge. So down,with my heart full of trouble, to the Lieutenant of theTower, who tells me that it begun this morning in theKing’s baker’s house in Pudding-lane, and that it hathburned St. Magnus’s Church and most part of Fish-streetalready. So I down to the water-side, and there got a boatand through bridge, and there saw a lamentable fire. PoorMichell’s house, as far as the Old Swan, already burnedthat way, and the fire running further, that in a very littletime it got as far as the Steeleyard, while I was there.Everybody endeavouring to remove their goods, andflinging into the river or bringing them into lighters thatlayoff; poor people staying in their houses as long as tillthe very fire touched them, and then running into boats, orclambering from one pair of stairs by the water-side toanother. And among other things, the poor pigeons, Iperceive, were loth to leave their houses, but hoveredabout the windows and balconys till they were, some ofthem burned, their wings, and fell down.”

Having staid, and in an hour’s time seen the fire: rage everyway, and nobody, to my sight, endeavouring to quench it, butto remove their goods, and leave all to the fire, and havingseen it get as far as the Steele-yard, and the wind mightyhigh and driving it into the City; and every thing, after solong a drought, proving combustible, even the very stones ofchurches, and among other things the poor steeple by whichpretty Mrs. lives, and whereof my old school-fellowElborough is parson, taken fire in the very top, an thereburned till it fell down: I to White Hall (with a gentlemanwith me who desired to go off from the Tower, to see the fire,in my boat); to White Hall, and there up to the Kings closettin the Chappell, where people come about me, and did givethem an account dismayed them all, and word was carried into the King. So I was called for, and did tell the King andDuke of Yorke what I saw, and that unless his Majesty didcommand houses to be pulled down nothing could stop thefire. They seemed much troubled, and the King commandedme to go to my Lord Mayor - [Sir Thomas Bludworth. SeeJune 30th, 1666.] - from him, and command him to spare nohouses, but to pull down before the fire every way. The Dukeof York bid me tell him that if he would have any moresoldiers he shall; and so did my Lord Arlington afterwards,as a great secret.1 Here meeting, with Captain Cocke, I inhis coach, which he lent me, and Creed with me to Paul’s,and there walked along Watlingstreet, as well as I could,every creature coming away loaden with goods to save, andhere and there sicke people carried away in beds.Extraordinary good goods carried in carts and on backs.

At last met my Lord Mayor in Canningstreet, like a manspent, with a handkercher about his neck. To the King’smessage he cried, like a fainting woman, “Lord! what can Ido? I am spent: people will not obey me. I have been pullingdown houses; but the fire overtakes us faster than we can doit.” That he needed no more soldiers; and that, for himself,he must go and refresh himself, having been up all night. Sohe left me, and I him, and walked home, seeing people allalmost distracted, and no manner of means used to quenchthe fire. The houses, too, so very thick thereabouts, and fullof matter for burning, as pitch and tarr, in Thames-street;and warehouses of oyle, and wines, and brandy, and otherthings. Here I saw Mr. Isaake Houblon, the handsome man,prettily dressed and dirty, at his door at Dowgate, receivingsome of his brothers’ things, whose houses were on fire;and, as he says, have been removed twice already; and hedoubts (as it soon proved) that they must be in a little timeremoved from his house also, which was a sadconsideration. And to see the churches all filling with goodsby people who themselves should have been quietly there atthis time.

By this time it was about twelve o’clock; and so home, and therefind my guests, which was Mr. Wood and his wife BarbarySheldon, and also Mr. Moons: she mighty fine, and herhusband; for aught I see, a likely man. But Mr. Moone’s designand mine, which was to look over my closett and please himwith the sight thereof, which he hath long desired, was whollydisappointed; for we were in great trouble and disturbance atthis fire, not knowing what to think of it. However, we had anextraordinary good dinner, and as merry, as at this time wecould be. While at dinner Mrs. Batelier come to enquire afterMr. Woolfe and Stanes (who, it seems, are related to them),whose houses in Fish-street are all burned; and they in a sadcondition. She would not stay in the fright. Soon as dined, I andMoone away, and walked, through the City, the streets full ofnothing but people and horses and carts loaden with goods,ready to run over one another, and, removing goods from oneburned house to another. They now removing out of Canning-streets (which received goods in the morning) into Lumbard-streets, and further; and among others I now saw my littlegoldsmith, Stokes, receiving some friend’s goods, whose houseitself was burned the day after. We parted at Paul’s; he home,and I to Paul’s Wharf, where I had appointed a boat to attendme, and took in Mr. Carcasse and his brother, whom I met in thestreets and carried them below and above bridge to and againto see the fire, which was now got further, both below and aboveand no likelihood of stopping it.

Met with the King and Duke of York in their barge, and withthem to Queenhith and there called Sir Richard Browne to them.Their order was only to pull down houses apace, and so belowbridge the water-side; but little was or could be done, the firecoming upon them so fast. Soon as dined, I and Moone away,and walked, through the City, the streets full of nothing butpeople and horses and carts loaden with goods, ready to runover one another, and, removing goods from one burned houseto another. They now removing out of Canning-streets (whichreceived goods in the morning) into Lumbard-streets, andfurther; and among others I now saw my little goldsmith, Stokes,receiving some friend’s goods, whose house itself was burned theday after. We parted at Paul’s; he home, and I to Paul’s Wharf,where I had appointed a boat to attend me, and took in Mr.Carcasse and his brother, whom I met in the streets and carriedthem below and above bridge to and again to see the fire, whichwas now got further, both below and above and no likelihood ofstopping it. Met with the King and Duke of York in their barge,and with them to Queenhith and there called Sir Richard Browneto them. Their order was only to pull down houses apace, and sobelow bridge the water-side; but little was or could be done, thefire coming upon them so fast. Good hopes there was of stoppingit at the Three Cranes above, and at Buttolph’s Wharf belowbridge, if care be used; but the wind carries it into the City so aswe know not by the water-side what it do there..

River full of lighters and boats taking in goods, and good goodsswimming in the water, and only I observed that hardly onelighter or boat in three that had the goods of a house in, but therewas a pair of Virginalls in it. Having seen as much as I couldnow, I away to White Hall by appointment, and there walked toSt. James’s Parks, and there met my wife and Creed and Woodand his wife, and walked to my boat; and there upon the wateragain, and to the fire up and down, it still encreasing, and thewind great. So near the fire as we could for smoke; and all overthe Thames, with one’s face in the wind, you were almost burnedwith a shower of firedrops. This is very true; so as houses wereburned by these drops and flakes of fire, three or four, nay, five orsix houses, one from another. When we could endure no moreupon the water; we to a little ale-house on the Bankside, overagainst the Three Cranes, and there staid till it was dark almost,and saw the fire grow; and, as it grew darker, appeared more andmore, and in corners and upon steeples, and between churchesand houses, as far as we could see up the hill of the City, in amost horrid malicious bloody flame, not like the fine flame of anordinary fire. Barbary and her husband away before us. We staidtill, it being darkish, we saw the fire as only one entire arch offire from this to the other side the bridge, and in a bow up the hillfor an arch of above a mile long: it made me weep to see it.

The churches, houses, and all on fire and flaming at once; and ahorrid noise the flames made, and the cracking of houses at theirruins. So home with a sad heart, and there find every bodydiscoursing and lamenting the fire; and poor Tom Hater comewith some few of his goods saved out of his house, which isburned upon Fish-streets Hill. I invited him to lie at my house,and did receive his goods, but was deceived in his lying there, thenewes coming every moment of the growth of the fire; so as wewere forced to begin to pack up our owne goods; and prepare fortheir removal; and did by moonshine (it being brave dry, andmoon shine, and warm weather) carry much of my goods into thegarden, and Mr. Hater and I did remove my money and ironchests into my cellar, as thinking that the safest place. And got mybags of gold into my office, ready to carry away, and my chiefpapers of accounts also there, and my tallys into a box bythemselves. So great was our fear, as Sir W. Batten hath cartscome out of the country to fetch away his goods this night. We didput Mr. Hater, poor man, to bed a little; but he got but very littlerest, so much noise being in my house, taking down of goods.

THE MONUMENT OF THE GREAT FIRE OF LONDON

The Monument to the Great Fire of London, more

commonly known simply as the Monument, is a Doric

colum in London, United Kingdom, situated near the

northern end of London Bridge. Commemorating

the Great Fire og London, it stands at the junction of

Monument Street and Fish Street Hill, 202 feet (62 m)

in height and 202 feet west of the spot in Pudding

Lane where the Great Fire started on 2 September

1666. Constructed between 1671 and 1677, it was

built on the site of St Margaret, New Fish Street, the

first church to be destroyed by the Great Fire. It is

Grade I listed and is a scheduled monument. Another

monument, the Golden Boy of Pye Corner, marks the

point near Smithfield where the fire was stopped.

The Monument includes a fluted

Doric column built of Portland Stone

topped with a gilded urn of fire.

It was designed by Christopher Wren and

Robert Hooke. Its height marks its distance

from the site of the shop of Thomas Farriner

(or Faryno), the king's baker, where the very

blaze started.

The viewing platform near the top

of the Monument is reached by a

narrow winding staircase of 311 steps.

A mesh cage was added in the mid-

19th century to prevent people jumping to

the ground, after six people had

committed suicide there between 1788

and 1842.

Three sides of the base carry inscriptions in Latin. The oneon the south side describes actions taken by King CharlesII following the fire. The inscription on the east sidedescribes how the Monument was started and brought toperfection, and under which mayors. Inscriptions on the northside describe how the fire started, how much damage itcaused, and how it was eventually extinguished. The Latinwords "Sed Furor Papisticus Qui Tamdiu Patravit NondumRestingvitur" (but Popish frenzy, which wrought suchhorrors, is not yet quenched) were added to the end of theinscription on the orders of the Court of Aldermen in 1681during the foment of the Popish Plot.vText on the east sideoriginally falsely blamed Roman Catholics for the fire("burning of this protestant city, begun and carried on by thetreachery and malice of the popish faction"), whichprompted Alexander Pope (himself a Catholic) to say of the

area:"Where London's column, pointing at the skies, Like a tallbully, lifts the head, and lies."– Moral Essays, Epistle iii. line 339 (1733–1734).

As a scientific instrument

Wren and Hooke built the monument to double-up as a scientificinstrument. It has a central shaft meant for use as a zenith telescope andfor use in gravity and pendulum experiments that connects to anunderground laboratory for observers to work (accessible through ahatch in the floor of the present-day ticket booth). Vibrations from heavytraffic on Fish Street Hill rendered the experimental conditionsunsuitable.

At the top of the monument, a hinged lid in the urn covers the openingto the shaft. The steps in the shaft of the tower are all six inches high,allowing them to be used for barometric pressure studies.

More recently, researchers from Queen Mary's University of Londonused the shaft of the monument stairwell to measure deformation in ahanging wire. By twisting and untwisting a wire hanging down the shaftof the stairwell, they were able to detect deformation at less than 9 partsper billion - equivalent to a one degree twist over the length of the 50meter wire.

History

The first Rebuilding Act, passed in 1669, stipulated that "the better topreserve the memory of this dreadful visitation", a column of eitherbrass or stone should be set up on Fish Street Hill, on or near the siteof Farynor's bakery, where the fire began. Christopher Wren, assurveyor-general of the King's Works, was asked to submit a design.Wren worked with Robert Hooke on the design. It is impossible todisentangle the collaboration between Hooke and Wren, but Hooke'sdrawings of possible designs for the column still exist, with Wren'ssignature on them indicating his approval of the drawings rather thantheir authorship. It was not until 1671 that the City Council approvedthe design, and it took six years to complete the 202 ft column. It wastwo more years before the inscription was set in place."Commemorating — with a brazen disregard for the truth — the factthat 'London rises again...three short years complete that which wasconsidered the work of ages.'"

Hooke's surviving drawings show that several versions of the monument

were submitted for consideration: a plain obelisk, a column garnished

with tongues of fire, and the fluted Doric column that was eventually

chosen. The real contention came with the problem of what type of

ornament to have at the top. Initially, Wren favoured a statue of a

phoenix with outstretched wings rising from the ashes, but as the column

neared completion he decided instead on a 15 ft statue either of Charles

II, or a sword-wielding female to represent a triumphant London; the

cost of either being estimated at £1,050. The king himself disliked the

idea of his statue atop the monument and instead preferred a simple

copper-gilded ball "with flames sprouting from the top", costing a little

over £325, but ultimately it was the design of a flaming gilt-bronze urn

suggested by Robert Hooke that was chosen.

The total cost of the monument was £13,450 11s 9d., of which £11,300

was paid to the mason-contractor Joshua Marshall.

The area around the base of the column,

Monument Street, was pedestrianised in

2006 in a £790,000 street improvement

scheme.

The Monument closed in July 2007 for an

18-month, £4.5 million refurbishment

project and re-opened in February 2009.

Between 1 and 2 October 2011, a Live

Music Sculpture created especially for the

Monument by British composer Samuel

Bordoli was performed 18 times during the

weekend. This was the first occasion that

music had ever been heard inside the

structure and effectively transformed. Wren's

design into a gigantic reverberating musical i

nstrument.

St Paul's history

A cathedral has stood on this spot since 604 C.E, when monks weresent from Canterbury to establish a church in London. The first wasdestroyed by fire, the Vikings destroyed the second (962) and firealso destroyed the third in 1087. The new Norman building nowcalled Old St Paul’s took over 150 years to complete.

Old St Paul’s as cavalry barracks. The fortunes of OldSt Paul’s seemed to change for the better during theRestoration of the Monarchy, when Charles IIappointed Christopher Wren to undertake majorrepairs to the building.

On 2nd September 1666, a fire broke out in PuddingLane and Old St Paul’s was totallydestroyed.

What had been a disaster or the church was a greatopportunity for the young architect. In just a fewdays, Wren presented the King with his plane for anew London. The King, however, accept Wren’s plainfor a number of new churches, including St Paul’sCathedral, and was ready to finance the grand projectby putting a tax on coal arriving at the port ofLondon.

Wren’s first plan was a domed church in the shape ofa Greek cross, but this was rejected because it wastoo “Italian”. Finally, Wren submitted a design thatthe church accepted.

The Royal approval specified that thearchitect would be free to makevariations, rather ornamental thanessential.

Wren’s variations, however, were moreessential than ornamental. Heproceeded to change almost every partof the design and to build the churchhe wanted. He removed the spire andsubstituted it with a dome.

The result was a masterpiece in theBaroque style.

Christopher Wren lived to see thebuilding completed. He died in 1723and was buried in theCathedral.

A Latin inscription on his tomb tellsvisitors:” Reader, if you seek hismonument, look about you.” There arealso hundreds of memorials in theCathedral: the oldest one actuallydates back to the Old St Paul’s.

Old St Paul's Cathedral

• London,

• c. 604–75c. 685–961c. 962–10871087–1666

• English Gothic

The cathedral front was divided into three

part by two big buttresses. The central part

was bigger than left and right one. In the

lower part there was a base. There were six

columns which held on a series of pointed

arch (central side) and two three-lobed

windows with a stained glass (left and right

side). A big rose window placed between

buttresses and hits beholder caution. Flying

buttresses gave balance to the cathedral and

linked central facade with lateral ones. Every

buttresses was composed by spired with a

knob. In the upper part there was a pediment

framed by two higher spiers.

How did the

cathedral look like?

How did the cathedral look like?

• Cathedral’s plan in latin-crossed, with three naves and a transept. Inthe upper part these was a cross vault, that supported the ceiling. Thenave's length was particularly notable, with a Norman triforium andvaulted ceiling. The length was known as ‘St. Paul’s walk’.

• Where the transept and the nave cross each other there was a dome,frescoed with some episodes of St Paul’s life. It was supported byeight arches with Corinthian columns.

The cathedral's stained glass was reputed

to be the best in the country, and the east-

end Rose window was particularly

exquisite. The poet Geoffrey Chaucer

used the windows as a metaphor in "The

Miller's Tale" from The Canterbury Tales,

knowing that other Londoners at that time

would understand the comparison.

The Cathedral Now

St Paul's Cathedral is built in arestrained Baroque style which representsWren's rationalisation of the traditions ofEnglish medieval cathedrals with theinspiration of Palladio, the classical style ofInigo Jones, the baroque style of 17th centuryRome, and the buildings by Mansart andothers that he had seen in France. It isparticularly in its plan that St Paul's revealsmedieval influences. Like the great medievalcathedrals of York and Winchester, St Paul's iscomparatively long for its width, and hasstrongly projecting transepts. It has muchemphasis on its facade, which has beendesigned to define rather than conceal the formof the building behind it. In plan, the towersjut beyond the width of the aisles as they doat Wells Cathedral.

The interiorInternally, St Paul's has a nave and choir in each of its

three bays. The entrance from the west portico is

through a square domed narthex, flanked by chapels:

the Chapel of St Dunstan to the north and the Chapel of

the Order of St Michael and St George to the south. The

nave is 91 feet (28 m) in height and is separated from

the aisles by an arcade of piers with attached Corinthian

pilasters rising to an entablature. The bays, and

therefore the vault compartments, are rectangular, but

Wren roofed these spaces with saucer-shaped domes

and surrounded the clerestory windows

with lunettes. The vaults of the choir are decorated with

mosaics by Sir William Blake Richmond. The dome

and the apse of the choir are all approached through

wide arches with coffered vaults which contrast with

the smooth surface of the domes and punctuate the

division between the main spaces. The transepts extend

to the north and south of the dome and are called (in

this instance) the North Choir and the South Choir.

The choir holds the stalls for the clergy, cathedral

officers and the choir, and the organ. These wooden

fittings, including the pulpit and Bishop's throne,

were designed in Wren's office and built by joiners.

The carvings are the work of Grinling Gibbons

whom Summerson describes as having "astonishing

facility", suggesting that Gibbons aim was to

reproduce popular Dutch flower painting in

wood. Jean Tijou, a French metalworker, provided

various wrought iron and gilt grilles, gates and

balustrades of elaborate design, of which many

pieces have now been combined into the gates near

the sanctuary.

The cathedral is some 574 feet (175 m) in length

(including the portico of the Great West Door), of

which 223 feet (68 m) is the nave and 167 feet

(51 m) is the choir. The width of the nave is 121 feet

(37 m) and across the transepts is 246 feet

(75 m). The cathedral is slightly shorter but

somewhat wider than Old St Paul's.

The exterior

The most notable exterior feature is thedome, which rises 365 feet (111 m) to thecross at its summit, and dominates viewsof the City. The height of 365 feet isexplained by Wren's interest in astronomy.Until the late 20th century St Paul's wasthe tallest building on the City skyline,designed to be seen surrounded by thedelicate spires of Wren's other citychurches. The dome is described bySir Banister Fletcher as "probably thefinest in Europe", by Helen Gardner as"majestic", and by Sir Nikolaus Pevsner as"one of the most perfect in the world".Sir John Summerson said that Englishmenand "even some foreigners" consider it tobe without equal.

The dome

When Wren built the cathedral Wren drew inspiration

from Michelangelo's dome of St Peter's Basilica, and

that of Mansart's Church of the Val-de-Grâce, which he

had visited. Unlike those of St Peter's and Val-de-Grâce,

the dome of St Paul's rises in two clearly defined storeys

of masonry, which, together with a lower unadorned

footing, equal a height of about 95 feet. From the time

of the Greek Cross Design it is clear that Wren favoured

a continuous colonnade (peristyle) around the drum of

the dome, rather than the arrangement of alternating

windows and projecting columns that Michelangelo had

used and which had also been employed by Mansart

Summerson suggests that he was influenced by

Bramante's "Tempietto" in the courtyard of San Pietro

in. In the finished structure, Wren creates a diversity and

appearance of strength by placing niches between the

columns in every fourth opening. The peristyle serves to

buttress both the inner dome and the brick cone which

rises internally to support the lantern.

Above the peristyle rises the second stage surrounded by a

balustraded balcony called the "Stone Gallery". This attic

stage is ornamented with alternating pilasters and

rectangular windows which are set just below the cornice,

creating a sense of lightness. Above this attic rises the

dome, covered with lead, and ribbed in accordance with

the spacing of the pilasters. It is pierced by eight light

wells just below the lantern, but these are barely visible.

They allow light to penetrate through openings in the brick

cone, which illuminates the interior apex of this shell,

partly visible from within the cathedral through the ocular

opening of the lower dome.

The lantern, like the visible masonry of the dome, rises in

stages. The most unusual characteristic of this structure is

that it is of square plan, rather than circular or octagonal.

The tallest stage takes the form of a tempietto with four

columned porticos facing the cardinal points. Its lowest

level is surrounded by the "Golden Gallery" and its upper

level supports a small dome from which rises a cross on a

golden ball. The total weight of the lantern is about 850

tons.

The main internal space of the cathedral is that underthe central dome which extends the full width of thenave and aisles. The dome is supported on pendentivesrising between eight arches spanning the nave, choir,transepts, and aisles. The eight piers that carry them arenot evenly spaced. Wren has maintained an appearanceof eight equal spans by inserting segmental arches tocarry galleries across the ends of the aisles, and hasextended the mouldings of the upper arch to appearequal to the wider arches.

Above the keystones of the arches, at 99 feet (30 m)above the floor and 112 feet (34 m) wide, runs acornice which supports the Whispering Gallery socalled because of its acoustic properties: a whisper orlow murmur against its wall at any point is audible to alistener with an ear held to the wall at any other pointaround the gallery. It is reached by 259 steps fromground level.

The dome is raised on a tall drum surrounded by pilasters and pierced with windows in groups of three,

separated by eight gilded niches containing statues, and repeating the pattern of the peristyle on the exterior. the

dome rises above a gilded cornice at 173 feet (53 m) to a height of 214 feet (65 m). Its painted decoration by Sir

James Thornhill shows eight scenes from the life of St Paul set in illusionistic architecture which continues the

forms of the eight niches of the drum. At the apex of the dome is an oculus inspired by that of the Pantheon in

Rome. Through this hole can be seen the decorated inner surface of the cone which supports the lantern. This

upper space is lit by the light wells in the outer dome and openings in the brick cone. Engravings of Thornhill's

paintings were published in 1720.

The west frontWren's solution was to employ a Classical portico supported on paired columns.

The remarkable feature here is that the lower story of this portico extends to the

full width of the aisles, while the upper section defines the nave that lies behind

it. The gaps between the upper stage of the portico and the towers on either side

are bridged by a narrow section of wall with an arch-topped window. The

towers stand outside the width of the aisles, but screen two chapels located

immediately behind them. The towers rise above the cornice from a square

block plinth which is plain apart from large oculi, that on the south being filled

by the clock, while that on the north is void. The towers are composed of two

complementary elements, a central cylinder rising through the tiers in a series of

stacked drums, and paired Corinthia columns at the corners, with

buttresses above them, which serve to unify the drum shape with the square

plinth on which it stands. The entablature above the columns breaks forward

over them to express both elements, tying them together in a single horizontal

band. The cap, an ogee-shaped dome, supports a gilded pineapple-shaped

finial. The transepts each have a semi-circular entrance portico. Wren was

inspired in the design by studying engravings of Pietro da Cortona's Baroque

facade of Santa Maria della Pace in Rome.

Biography of Christopher Wren

Sir Christopher Wren 30 October 1632. 20 October] – 8 March 1723 [ 25 February]) was an Englishanatomist,astronomer, geometer, and mathematician-physicist, as well as one of the most highly acclaimed Englisharchitects in history. He was accorded responsibility for rebuilding 52 churches in the City of London after theGreat Fire in 1666, including what is regarded as his masterpiece, St Paul's Cathedral, on Ludgate Hill, completedin 1710.

The principal creative responsibility for a number of the churches is now more commonly attributed to others inhis office, especially Nicholas Hawksmoor. Other notable buildings by Wren include the Royal Hospital Chelsea,Royal Naval College, Greenwich, and the south front of Hampton Court Palace. The Wren Building, the mainbuilding at the College of William and Mary, Virginia, is attributed to Wren.

Educated in Latin and Aristotelian physics at the University of Oxford, Wren was a founder of the Royal Society ,and his scientific work was highly regarded by Isaac Newton and Blaise Pascal.

Biography

Wren was born in East Knoyle in Wiltshire, the onlysurviving son of Christopher Wren the Elder (1589–1658) andMary Cox, the only child of the Wiltshire squire Robert Coxfrom Fonthill Bishop. Christopher Sr. was at that time therector of East Knoyle and later Dean of Windsor. He was firsttaught at home by both a private tutor and his father. He spenthis first eight years at East Knoyle and was educatedby William Shepherd, a local clergyman. Then he attendedWestminster School between 1641 and 1646.

He was grounded in Latin and also in drawing.On 25 June1650, Wren entered Wadham College, Oxford, where he studiedLatin and the works of Aristotle. However, Wren becameclosely associated with John Wilkins, the Warden of Wadham.The Wilkins circle was a group whose activities led to theformation of the Royal Society, comprising a number ofdistinguished mathematicians, creative workers andexperimental philosophers. He was appointed Professor ofAstronomy at Gresham College in London in 1657.Hecontinued to meet the men with whom he had frequentdiscussions in Oxford. They attended his London lectures and in1660, initiated formal weekly meetings.Wren's interest in architecture developed from his studyof physics and engineering. In 1664 and 1665,Wren was commissioned to design the Sheldonian Theatrein Oxford and a chapel for Pembroke College, Cambridge andfrom then on, architecture was his main focus. In 1665,Wren visited Paris, where he was strongly influenced by Frenchand Italian baroque styles. It was from these meetings that theRoyal Society, England's preminent scientific body, was todevelop. He undoubtedly played a major role in the early life ofwhat would become the Royal Society; his great breadth ofexpertise in so many different subjects helped in the exchangeof ideas between the various scientists.

The Architect of the Reconstruction

The main sources for Wren's scientific achievements are the records of theRoyal Society. His scientific works ranged from astronomy, optics, theproblem of finding longitude at sea, cosmology, mechanics, microscopy,surveying, medicine and meteorology. He observed, measured, dissected,built models and employed, invented and improved a variety ofinstruments.It was probably around this time that Wren was drawn intoredesigning a battered St Paul's Cathedral. Making a trip to Paris in 1665,Wren studied the architecture, which had reached a climax of creativity,and perused the drawings of Bernini, the great Italian sculptor andarchitect, who himself was visiting Paris at the time. Returning from Paris,he made his first design for St Paul's. A week later, however, the GreatFire destroyed two-thirds of the city. Wren submitted his plans forrebuilding the city to King Charles II, although they were never adopted.Thanks to his appointment as King's Surveyor of Works in 1669, he had apresence in the general process of rebuilding the city, but was not directlyinvolved with the rebuilding of houses or companies' halls. Wren waspersonally responsible for the rebuilding of 51 churches.

He was appointed as a Member ofParliament four times. In 1675, Wrenwas commissioned to design theRoyal Observatory at Greenwich. In1682, he received a new royalcommission: to design a hospital forretired soldiers in Chelsea , and in1696 a hospital for sailors inGreenwich, too. Other buildingsinclude Trinity College Library inCambridge (1677 - 1692), and thefacade of Hampton Court Palace(1689 - 1694). Christopher Wrenusually worked with the same teamof craftsmen, including masterplasterer John Groves and woodcarver Grinling Gibbons

Christopher Wren died on 25February 1723.

THE END• Progetto realizzato dalla classe IV A del liceo statale E. Pascal., Pompei, indirizzo scientifico.