Old St Paul's Cathedral

City of London, United Kingdom

No longer standing

Demolished or destroyed.

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Old St Paul's Cathedral stood on Ludgate Hill in the City of London until its destruction in the Great Fire of 1666. Construction began in 1087 following a fire that destroyed an earlier church on the site, and work continued for more than 200 years, during which the architecture evolved from Norman Romanesque to early English Gothic. Consecrated in 1240 and enlarged in 1256 and the early 14th century, the cathedral reached completion in the mid-14th century as one of the world's longest churches, with one of its tallest spires and exceptional stained glass. At 150 meters in height, it served not only as the seat of the Diocese of London but became a celebrated pilgrimage destination and social hub, its nave aisle earning the name "Paul's walk" as a meeting place for news and business. By the early 17th century, the cathedral had fallen into structural decline—its spire was destroyed by fire in 1561 and never rebuilt. Restoration efforts under Inigo Jones in the 1620s and later under Christopher Wren were interrupted by the English Civil War and ultimately halted when the cathedral was devastated and demolished following the Great Fire of 1666.