What is special about St. Paul’s Cathedral?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Paul%27s_Cathedral

https://www.bbc.com/search?q=St.+Paul%27s+Cathedral&edgeauth=eyJhbGciOiAiSFMyNTYiLCAidHlwIjogIkpXVCJ9.eyJrZXkiOiAiZmFzdGx5LXVyaS10b2tlbi0xIiwiZXhwIjogMTc2MjI5NzcyNywibmJmIjogMTc2MjI5NzM2NywicmVxdWVzdHVyaSI6ICIlMkZzZWFyY2glM0ZxJTNEU3QuJTJCUGF1bCUyNTI3cyUyQkNhdGhlZHJhbCJ9.KsAdZQZXpMzMpxgSZihEqUsu_lXoQJ1TrUq2nUNnhKs

https://www.bbc.com/reel/video/p0jnkzzy/the-giant-350-year-old-model-of-st-paul-s-cathedral

https://books.google.com/books?id=92ZZAAAAQAAJ&pg=133#v=onepage&q&f=false

St. Paul’s Cathedral is more than just an iconic architectural masterpiece designed by Sir Christopher Wren. It’s the seat of the Bishop of the Anglican Church in London, was the site of Winston Churchill’s funeral, and is where Lord Nelson of Trafalgar Square fame is buried. St. Paul’s also is a monument to the resilience of the British people who built it following the “Great Fire” of 1666 and later kept it from being destroyed by fire during the London Blitz of WWll.

Until 1963, St. Paul’s Cathedral was the tallest building in London. The cathedral’s dome is still one of the tallest in the world.

It's absolutely a special place. You've been given multiple links that explain why.
There's an iconic photo of the dome still in one piece during the blitz that became a bright symbol of resilience during the dark days of WWII. As it's said; beauty is only skin deep; there can be much more of real value beyond what's on the surface.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Paul%27s_Survives

PS: We found Milan's duomo to be pretty darn impressive even without doing the roof.

Ditto all the above. So much historical significance. A couple additional comments, Diana and Charles were married there. There is an American Chapel in the back of the church. It is in gratitude for U.S. assistance during WWII, and the sacrifice made by American troops. It was built as part of the repair following WWII. There is a book with a list of those Americans that lost their lives. Many famous people are interred in the crypt. You can take a free tour of the church, ask at the information desk. Outside the cathedral there is an exhibit depicting the cathedral during WWII.

I didn't visit St Paul's until my 6th trip to London, so it was not at the top of my must-see list, but now that I have, I wondered why I waited so long. I made it up the stairs as far as the Whispering Gallery, and enjoyed exploring all the nooks and crannies, especially the gravestones for various famous people buried there in the lower level. The history made it special, for me.

"What is special about St. Paul’s Cathedral?"

Because that is where Lord Rayleigh discovered "Whispering mode" waves of course. :)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whispering-gallery_wave

[snip]
Whispering-gallery waves, or whispering-gallery modes, are a type of wave that can travel around a concave surface. Originally discovered for sound waves in the whispering gallery of St Paul's Cathedral, they can exist for light and for other waves, with important applications in nondestructive testing, lasing, cooling and sensing, as well as in astronomy.

One of my happiest thoughts is all three of my kids ( separate trips ) and myself got to visit notre dame before the fire , at least 4-5 times .

It will never be the same renovated . I loved knowing I walked in the steps of millions of people over hundreds of years .

a must-see to one person is worth no more than a glance from another. Beauty is primarily subjective, though some mathematicians and scientists may disagree. Jean Kerr once remarked, 'Beauty is only skin deep. That's deep enough. What do you want, an adorable pancreas?' In that spirit, to me, St. Paul's is one of many and not special in any way. The same goes for Notre Dame in Paris. It's so white it hurts the eyes! No mystery. I'll take a gloomy Romanesque church over a Gothic one any day, though I find the Milan Duomo spectacular. I am also not impressed by which aristocrat or clergy built something, nor which famous person is buried there. The seven elements of art and how light makes it all come alive is what I travel to experience. I am sure everyone here has their reasons.

Extra nauga stars to RobertH up there in the northwest for bringing waves into the discussion, but keep in mind that the scientific community is being droll/facetious when it credits Rayleigh for 'discovering' this -- he discovered it in the same way that Columbus discovered America.

Take in that wikipedia citation, though, and you'll be a few steps closer to understanding the fundamentals of quantum mechanics.

Recent applications in imaging here:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK599190/

For the non-scientist:

https://ls.berkeley.edu/news/taking-look-inside-brains-professor-na-ji

https://communities.springernature.com/posts/a-conversation-with-na-ji

[Imagine devoting a nation's treasure to building marvels like St. Paul's to celebrate the glory of bigger things than a ruler's ego]

Thank you all for responding! I enjoyed reading your perspectives and will plan on visiting.

I agree with much of what has been said above. It's a really beautiful church, designed by one of our most famous architects, Christopher Wren. You can see a lot of his churches and those of his apprentice, Nicholas Hawksmoor, around London, some of which are left in a state of ruin after the Blitz. In addition to what's been mentioned, you can also climb all the way to the top (if you don't mind some rickety stairs) and get great views from outside at the top of the dome.

Lulu, if you have an interest in WWII, there is an excellent London Walks walk called the Blitz that is in the St. Pauls area. I did it pre-Covid but the guide talked a lot about the role of St Pauls during that time and the heroic efforts to keep it from burning. It added context for me.

https://www.walks.com/our-walks/the-blitz-london-turned-crimson/

Thanks avirosemail, for the links.

I'd heard of "Two-photon fluorescence microscopy" before* but it's great to see how it's progressing so fast. I've given up trying to sort older claims for who discovered what.

*mostly from Wikipedia:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two-photon_excitation_microscopy

I also took "the Blitz" London Walks, and I highly recommend

What made me appreciate St Pauls was seeing it immediately after Westminster Abbey. I could see how St Pauls use of light, space, and color was a remarkable contrast with the old dark & dingy churches of the past. I could see how that would be spiritually uplifting to people going there for worship.

"What made me appreciate St Pauls was seeing it immediately after Westminster Abbey."

That might be an actual use for Virtual Reality headsets. Something big enough and light filled (or not) like that would be good to wander around in, maybe as a guided tour that compares the differences. I struggle to see much other use of the technology.

I'd have loved to have had tours like that available for places like Paris or Rome while I was housebound through COVID. Not when I can go though.

St. Paul's is, I believe, the only. baroque cathedral in the UK. The interior is gorgeous, especially the dome.

Loads of history there, even though the building is a little over 300 years old, while Westminister Abbey is about 800 years old.
Both have many famous people buried there.
Westminster Abbey is more historic, but St. Peter's is more beautiful.

you have quite a laundry list of cathedrals you've visited, which is nice and everything, but I find every church special in its own way. Big, small, city, country, regardless of denomination or style. I was lucky enough to pop into some churches a few years ago at Christmastime and they were in choir rehearsal. Just sitting and soaking in the atmosphere, I didn't care how big the transept was.

I have only been to London twice, but have included St. Paul's in both visits. While Westminster Abbey is amazing with all its history, I find St. Paul's to be uplifting and glorious, perhaps the most beautiful cathedral I have ever been in. Both times we climbed up all the domes to the top and the amazing views around London. Go early when there are fewer people present, and just take time to sit and soak in its beauty.

also St Pauls has a fabulous ring of bells, pulled by an exceptional band of ringers.

padams, St. Pau's is stunningly beautiful. I felt similarly when I visited St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. Two of the most gorgeous churches I've visited. (Although Westminster Abbey is my favorite. Also beautiful, but so full of history.)

The view from the roof, Evensong and Christopher Wren’s room and epitaph.

If you go to Evensong at St. Paul's sit as close to the front as possible. We sat towards the back because we had to leave for a 6pm tour.

Is Evensong a British thing? Or Episcopal/Church of England thing? Never encountered it before. This was a first trip to England.

"Is Evensong a British thing? Or Episcopal/Church of England thing?"

It's a part of the Church of England/Episcopal Church liturgy. It can be either Evensong (a sung service) or Evening Prayer (a said service).

I just did a little googling and see that St Mark's Cathedral in Minneapolis has a Sunday Evening Choral Evensong.

https://ourcathedral.org/worship-schedule/

Jules,

Evensong (as a service of that name) is an Anglican Communion thing, it's really a combination of the ancient monastic Offices of Vespers and Compline.
So you will certainly find it in the American Episcopal Church (I go to it, virtually, monthly at St Mark's Episcopal Cathedral, Seattle where it is sometimes Solemn Evensong, that is with the use of incense), or in the Scottish Episcopal Church (for instance Edinburgh St Mary's Episcopal Cathedral), pretty much any Anglican Communion church anywhere round the world.
I actually like to sit in the Quire where it can be a very close and intimate service, even in the grand space of St Paul's Cathedral, for instance.

At Seattle the seating is turned round through 90 degrees to be as close as possible to the choir stalls of an English Cathedral.

In the last few days I have done that at Salisbury, Chichester, Bristol, Winchester and other Cathedrals in the South of England. Bristol especially was stunning, actually being sat behind the choristers, the more so when the minister actually recognised me the following morning at said Morning Prayer. Being half term Salisbury was actually a said office, equally beautiful in it's stark simplicity.