Saint Paul's

the large Episcopalian cathedral of London. It stands on a gentle elevation in the very heart of the city. It is London's most conspicuous building. It is exceeded in size by only two churches in Christendom, St. Peter's at Rome and the cathedral at Milan. It is so closely hemmed in by other buildings, however, that it is necessary to get away at some distance to gain an adequate idea as to its magnitude. The best view is said to be had from Blackfriars Bridge, one of the bridges which span the Thames. Up to the time of Shakespeare the site was a common place for meeting friends, for buying and selling, and for engaging servants.

The cathedral was designed by Sir Christopher Wren. It was begun in 1675 and was completed in 1710, during his lifetime. The total cost of the building was pound 747,954, equivalent at the present day to fully $10,000,000. The cost was met by a tax on incoming coal. During the process of construction the architect received a salary of pound 200 or $1,000 a year. The edifice is modeled on that of St. Peter's at Rome. In form it is a Latin cross with a large central rotunda over which a majestic dome rises. The dome is second only to that of St. Peter's, Rome. Seen from the floor the interior gives an impression of great height. According to custom, the cathedral occupies an east and west position, the top of the cross or choir pointing toward the east. Although a larger edifice, St. Paul's makes no such impression on the visitor as is made by Westminster Abbey. Statues of the apostles are placed over the north and south entrances. At each side of the west entrance or facade, as it is called, there is a campanile or bell tower. One of these contains the most musical peal of bells in London. The other contains the largest bell in England, "Great Paul," it is called. It was cast in 1882 and weighs eighteen tons. Visitors are admitted to the galleries and dome by a winding stairway, called the Geometrical Staircase. The interior of the dome forms a whispering gallery.

Monuments of many noted persons have been erected in the interior of the church, making it a sort of Hall of Fame, second in importance only to Westminster Abbey. Among those of interest are statues of, or other monuments to, Hallam, the historian; Samuel Johnson, the dictionary maker; Bishop Heber, the author of "From Greenland's Icy Mountains;" Admiral Howe, who took part in the blockade of the American coast during the Revolutionary War; Lord Nelson, the victor of Copenhagen, Nile, and Trafalgar; Cornwallis, who surrendered at Yorktown; Lieutenant-General Sir John Moore, who fell at Corunna; the Duke of Wellington, who won the battle of Waterloo; Sir Joshua Reynolds, the famous painter; and others. Beneath the church is a crypt, in which the sarcophagus of Wellington and that of Nelson, and the burial caskets of other noted persons stand.

See London; Wren; Westminster Abbey

St. Peter's, Rome, the largest and most noted church in Christendom. It stands on the right of the Tiber, near the Vatican, two or three miles from the center of historic Rome. The approach to the church is an imposing open place. This space has the form of an ellipse and embraces several acres. It is surrounded by huge colonnades or covered drives. There are three of these circular drives under a single marble roof. The vaulting is supported by 284 columns and 88 piers. The whole place is called the Piazza. Including pavement, the cost of construction was $900,000. A 320-ton obelisk from Heliopolis, Egypt, stands in the center. The effect of the whole is striking, and prepares the visitor for the church.

St. Peter's, unlike St. Paul's, London, was a long time in building, and underwent serious changes in plan. By order of Pope Julius II the cornerstone was laid in 1506 in the presence of thirty-five cardinals. The main part of the edifice was consecrated in 1626 by Pope Urban VIII. The total cost is placed at $50,000,000. The original plan, by an Italian named Bramante, was that of a Greek cross having four wide, equal arms, surmounted by a vast dome. Michelangelo supervised the erection of the dome. It is one of the most imposing and best proportioned in existence. Unfortunately it was decided later to extend the west arm, or nave, thus giving St. Peter's the form of a Latin cross. The west portal, or front, cuts off the view of the dome. The interior is 205 yards in length. St. Paul's in London is only 173 yards. The nave is 151 feet high. The vault of the dome rises 404 feet above the pavement. A cross crowning the whole rises 31 feet higher. The dome is 138 feet in diameter. It is almost as large as the Roman Pantheon. It is spoken of as "the Pantheon in midair."

The interior of St. Peter's is lofty and beautifully proportioned. Pavement, pillars, and walks are of marble. The vaulting is in part stucco. The edifice is adorned with statues, monuments, and mural paintings beyond mention. The Madonna and the Crucifixion are prominent subjects. Naturally enough the memorials are chiefly those of saints, popes, and cardinals; but Charlemagne, Constantine, Henry IV of France, who abjured Protestantism, the last of the Stuarts, and others noted for service to the church are not forgotten. A round slab of porphyry on the pavement of the nave marks the spot where emperors were crowned. The frieze of the dome bears a Latin inscription in blue mosaic letters six feet high on a gold ground. The English translation is in the familiar words, "Thou are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and to thee will I give the keys of the kingdom of Heaven." Below in state is the sarcophagus which is revered by the Roman Catholic Church as containing the remains of St. Peter himself. It is surrounded by eighty-six golden lamps. They are always lighted. The dome may be ascended by a spiral stairway. The summit commands a magnificent view of the Apennine Mountains, the city, and the Tiber. Several small structures on the roof of the nave serve as homes for many of the mechanics and caretakers employed. It costs $35,000 a year to repair the building and care for it. The entire edifice covers 12,000 square yards,-two and one-half acres. There are so many chambers about the walls and chapels, in themselves huge churches, that St. Peter's is really a vast symmetrical aggregation of churches, chapels, tombs, and works of art. At the center of all, beneath the dome, is the high altar. Only the pope may officiate here, or a cardinal authorized by a papal brief.

See Rome; Pantheon; Vatican; Cathedral; Westminster Abbey

The building of St. Peter's surpasses all power of description. It appears to me like some great work of Nature, a forest, a mass of rocks, or something similar, for I never can realize the idea that it is a work of man. You strive to distinguish the ceiling as little as the canopy of heaven. You lose your way in St. Peter's. You take a walk in it, and ramble till you are quite tired. When divine service is performed and chanted here, you are not aware of it till you come quite close.-Mendelssohn.

St. Petersburg, the capital city of the Russian Empire. It is situated on the Neva, partly on the mainland and partly on a series of spacious, low islands lying in the mouth of the river. It is the largest city of the Russian Empire, in size the fifth city of Europe. It was founded by Peter the Great in 1703. He required a large number of peasants, noblemen, and government officials to settle there in order that he might build up a seaport. A three-room wooden cottage, built in 1703 and occupied by Peter himself during the building of the city, is preserved as a memento. He removed the capital of the empire from Moscow to the new city. St. Petersburg became the first permanent Slavonic seaport. In winter the port is kept open by steam ice-breakers. A huge prow is run up on the ice which it breaks off by its great weight.

The site is low and flat, rendering drainage difficult. On this account, the city is not considered particularly healthful. Typhoid and other epidemics are difficult to control. The city lies so low, in fact, that it has been found desirable to protect it against inundations by the construction of a number of canals in which high water is restrained by heavy granite copings. Immediately outside of the city are extensive bogs and forests, lying too low for habitation. The wharves and quays of the river Neva are considered the most extensive in Europe. On the water side the city is protected against foreign attack by the massive fortifications of Cronstadt, constructed at prodigious expense. The Neva is but forty-six miles long but it discharges more water than the Volga, the longest river in Europe.

A small island in the Neva, quite in the heart of the city, contains the original fortress of Saint Peter and Saint Paul constructed by Peter the Great. It is used now as a prison for political offenders. The cathedral within the fortress has been the mausoleum of Russian sovereigns ever since the founding of the city. The imperial tombs are interesting. The chapel is decorated richly. The central edifice of the city is the so-called Admiralty Building, a large official building standing on the wharf where Peter the Great constructed and launched the first Russian ship built on the Baltic. Great thoroughfares radiate from this center. One of these, the Nevski-Prospect, is considered one of the finest streets in Europe. St. Petersburg, having at command the resources of both church and state, which in Russia are one and the same, can boast a large number of rich edifices. One of these is St. Isaac's Cathedral, an immense church built on the plan of a Greek cross. It is crowned by a huge dome 336 feet in height, surmounted by a lantern and cross. The interior contains some remarkable columns of malachite over thirty feet high. The private doors through which the emperor enters are flanked by pillars of lapis lazuli. Other noted buildings are the Kasan Cathedral and the Winter Palace. The palaces of the nobility are too numerous to mention. The Orloff Palace contains rooms lined with lapis lazuli.

Whatever may be said of the general condition of education in Russia, St. Petersburg itself is a city of no little culture. The university has a faculty of eighty professors and is attended by over 2,000 students. The Imperial Library is one of the most noted collections of books in the world. There are over 1,000,000 volumes, 40,000 manuscripts, and 75,000 engravings. The nucleus of this library was stolen from the cities of Poland. The Academy of Sciences has extensive museums and a library of 300,000 volumes. The Hermitage, a classical structure built by Catharine II, is an impressive building almost cubical in shape. The entrance is ornamented by colossal columns of red granite. The building itself contains a collection of Spanish, Dutch, Flemish, and Italian paintings-altogether one of the notable art collections of the world.

In the winter season the Neva is frozen for about twenty weeks. The snowfall is abundant. Sleighing is a favorite recreation. The white streets of the city and the broad expanse of the Neva are an animated scene. No other city of Europe, or, indeed, of the world, possesses so many large and well appointed winter turnouts. In the winter season the czar resides in the Winter Palace. His usual summer residence is situated on some low hills a few miles from the city.

The commercial interests of the city are centered on a large island in the Neva. A network of canals and a radiating system of railways connect St. Petersburg with various parts of the empire. The railroads were built originally for military purposes. Moscow is the railway center of Russia. St. Petersburg is, however, a distributing point of importance. In years of plenty vast quantities of grain are shipped by way of the Baltic. There are extensive manufactures of glass, porcelain, instruments, tapestry, jewelry, leather, paper, tobacco, cotton and woolen cloth, clocks, steel rails, and a great variety of articles coming under the head of machinery, steel, and iron.

St. Petersburg is primarily an adminstrative, not a manufacturing or commercial city. The visitor is impressed by the roominess of the city, the width and cleanliness of the streets, the vast expenditure for public buildings, the practical exclusion of laboring people from the official and residence section. The military element is in evidence everywhere. One is never out of sight of a policeman. The entrance of each building is in charge of a doorkeeper who is held responsible for a knowledge of all who go in and out. Military discipline and police surveillance are so conspicuous as to be burdensome. Nevertheless, the streets are gay and animated. St. Petersburg is primarily a city of aristocracy. The citizens who are accustomed from childhood to this order of things appear to enjoy life heartily. The population in 1900 was reported at 1,439,375. In 1907 it was 1,678,000.