Editing St Paul's Cathedral (section)

===Interior===
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|image1 = St Paul's Cathedral Nave, London, UK - Diliff.jpg
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|caption1 = The nave, looking towards the choir
|image2 = St Paul's Cathedral Choir looking west, London, UK - Diliff.jpg
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|caption2 = The choir, looking towards the nave
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Internally, 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.{{sfn|Fletcher|1962|p=906}} The nave is {{convert|91|ft|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]].{{sfn|Fletcher|1962|p=906}} The vaults of the choir are decorated with mosaics by Sir [[William Blake Richmond]].{{sfn|Fletcher|1962|p=906}} 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 (architecture)|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.{{sfn|Summerson|1953|pp=238{{ndash}}240}} [[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.{{sfn|Summerson|1953|pp=238{{ndash}}40}}

The cathedral is some {{convert|574|ft|m}} in length (including the portico of the Great West Door), of which {{convert|223|ft|m}} is the nave and {{convert|167|ft|m}} is the choir. The width of the nave is {{convert|121|ft|m}} and across the transepts is {{convert|246|ft|m}}.<ref>{{citation |url=http://www.thehistorychannel.co.uk/site/encyclopedia/article_show/St_Pauls_Cathedral/m0016968.html?from=hotlink |title=St. Paul's Cathedral |publisher=[[The History Channel]] |access-date=18 April 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080523102550/http://www.thehistorychannel.co.uk/site/encyclopedia/article_show/St_Pauls_Cathedral/m0016968.html?from=hotlink |archive-date=23 May 2008 }}</ref> The cathedral is slightly shorter but somewhat wider than Old St Paul's.

====Dome====
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|image1 = St Paul's Cathedral Interior Dome 3, London, UK - Diliff.jpg
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|caption1 = The interior of the dome showing how [[Sir James Thornhill|Thornhill]]'s painting continues an illusion of the real architectural features
|image2 = St Paul's Cathedral Interior Dome 2 crop, London, UK - Diliff.jpg
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|caption2 = This view of an arch spanning the aisle shows how [[Sir Christopher Wren|Wren]] succeeded in giving an impression of eight equal arches.
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The main internal space of the cathedral is under the central dome, which extends the full width of the nave and aisles. The dome is supported on [[pendentive]]s rising between eight arches spanning the nave, choir, transepts, and aisles. The eight piers that carry them are not evenly spaced. Wren has maintained an appearance of eight equal spans by inserting segmental arches to carry galleries across the ends of the aisles and has extended the mouldings of the upper arch to appear equal to the wider arches.{{sfn|Summerson|1953|p=228}}

Above the keystones of the arches, at {{convert|99|ft|m}} above the floor and {{convert|112|ft|m}} wide, runs a cornice which supports the ''[[Whispering Gallery]]'' so called because of its acoustic properties: a whisper or low murmur against its wall at any point is audible to a listener with an ear held to the wall at any other point around the gallery. It is reached by 259 steps from ground 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 {{convert|173|ft|m}} to a height of {{convert|214|ft|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.{{sfn|Lang|1956|p=252}} At the apex of the dome is an [[Oculus (architecture)|oculus]] inspired by that of the [[Pantheon, Rome|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.{{efn|Entered in the Entry Book at Stationers' Hall on 7 May 1720 by Thornhill. The Bodleian Library's deposit copy survives (Arch.Antiq.A.III.23).}}

====Apse====
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|image1 = St Paul's Cathedral Choir looking east, London, UK - Diliff.jpg
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|caption1 = The choir, looking east
|image2 = St Paul's Cathedral High Altar, London, UK - Diliff.jpg
|alt2 =
|caption2 = The apse and high altar
}}

The eastern [[apse]] extends the width of the choir and is the full height of the main arches across the choir and nave. It is decorated with mosaics, in keeping with the choir vaults. The original reredos and high altar were destroyed by bombing in 1940. The present high altar and [[baldacchino]] are the work of [[W. Godfrey Allen]] and [[Stephen Dykes Bower]].{{sfn|Harris|1988|pp=214–15}} The apse was dedicated in 1958 as the American Memorial Chapel.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.stpauls.co.uk/Cathedral-History/The-Chapels/American-Memorial-Chapel |title=The Chapels – St Paul's Cathedral |website=Stpauls.co.uk |access-date=11 March 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110828111413/http://www.stpauls.co.uk/Cathedral-History/The-Chapels/American-Memorial-Chapel |archive-date=28 August 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref> It was paid for entirely by donations from British people.<ref>{{citation |url=http://www.explore-stpauls.net/oct03/textMM/AmericanMemorialN.htm |date=28 November 2006 |title=Explore St. Paul's |first=St. |last=Paul's Cathedral |website=Explore-stpauls.net |access-date=28 November 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070103152619/http://www.explore-stpauls.net/oct03/textMM/AmericanMemorialN.htm |archive-date=3 January 2007 |url-status=live}}</ref> The Roll of Honour contains the names of more than 28,000 Americans who gave their lives while on their way to, or stationed in, the United Kingdom during the Second World War.<ref>{{citation |url=http://www.stpauls-roh.org.uk/cgi-local/asdsrch.pl#images |title=Roll of Honour |access-date=26 October 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140806042034/http://www.stpauls-roh.org.uk/cgi-local/asdsrch.pl#images |archive-date=6 August 2014}}</ref> It is in front of the chapel's altar. The three windows of the apse date from 1960 and depict themes of service and sacrifice, while the insignia around the edges represent the American states and the [[US armed forces]]. The limewood panelling incorporates a rocket—a tribute to America's [[NASA|achievements in space]].<ref>{{citation |url=http://www.stpauls.co.uk/page.aspx?theLang=001lngdef&pointerID=861696IhcVLL99drjeoTjrkz39LOQnr0 |date=28 November 2006 |title=St. Paul's Cathedral Floor |author=St. Paul's Cathedral |website=Stpauls.co.uk |access-date=28 November 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060927145148/http://www.stpauls.co.uk/page.aspx?theLang=001lngdef&pointerID=861696IhcVLL99drjeoTjrkz39LOQnr0 <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date=27 September 2006}}</ref>