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Mon-Sat 8.30am-4pm; GBP5; www.stpauls.co.uk. Tube: St Paul's. St Paul's Cathedral , topped by an enormous lead-covered dome that's second in size only to St Peter's in Rome, has been a London icon since the Blitz, when it stood defiantly unscathed amid the carnage (or so it appeared on wartime propaganda photos). It remains a dominating presence in the City, despite the encroaching tower blocks - its showpiece west facade is particularly magnificent, and is at its most impressive at night when bathed in sea-green arc lights. Westminster Abbey has the edge, however, when it comes to celebrity corpses, pre-Reformation sculpture, royal connections and sheer atmosphere. St Paul's, by contrast, is a soulless but perfectly calculated architectural set piece, a burial place for captains rather than kings, though it does contain more artists than Westminster Abbey.
The cathedral's services, featuring the renowned St Paul's choir, are held Mon-Sat 5pm, Sun 10.15am, 11.30am & 3.15pm.
The best place from which to appreciate the glory of St Paul's is beneath the dome , decorated (against Wren's wishes) by Thornhill's trompe l'oeil frescoes. The most richly decorated section of the cathedral, however, is the Quire or chancel , where the mosaics of birds, fish, animals and greenery, dating from the 1890s, are particularly spectacular. The intricately carved oak and limewood choir stalls , and the imposing organ case, are the work of Wren's master carver, Grinling Gibbons. Meanwhile, in the south-choir aisle, is the only complete effigy to have survived from Old St Paul's, the upstanding shroud of John Donne , poet, preacher and one-time dean of St Paul's. A series of stairs, beginning in the south aisle, lead to the dome's three galleries , the first of which is the internal Whispering Gallery , so called because of its acoustic properties - words whispered to the wall on one side are distinctly audible over one hundred feet away on the other, though the place is often so busy you can't hear very much above the hubbub. The other two galleries are exterior: the wide Stone Gallery , around the balustrade at the base of the dome, and ultimately the tiny Golden Gallery , below the golden ball and cross which top the cathedral.
The City of London tourist office, to the south of St Paul's, is open April-Sept daily 9.30am-5pm; Oct-March Mon-Fri 9.30am-5pm, Sat 9.30am-12.30pm.
Although the nave is crammed full of overblown monuments to military types, burials in St Paul's are confined to the crypt , reputedly the largest in Europe. The whitewashed walls and bright lighting, however, make this one of the least atmospheric mausoleums you could imagine. Immediately to your right you'll find Artists' Corner , which boasts as many painters and architects as Westminster Abbey has poets, including Christopher Wren himself, who was commissioned to build the cathedral after its Gothic predecessor, Old St Paul's, was destroyed in the Great Fire. The crypt's two other star tombs are those of Nelson and Wellington , both occupying centre stage and both with more fanciful monuments upstairs.
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