Page "Christopher Wren" Paragraph 11

It was probably around this time that Wren was drawn into redesigning a battered St Paul's Cathedral.

Making a trip to Paris in 1665, Wren studied the architecture, which had reached a climax of creativity, and perused the drawings of Bernini, the great Italian sculptor and architect.

Returning from Paris, he made his first design for St Paul's.

A week later, however, the Great Fire destroyed two-thirds of the city.

Wren submitted his plans for rebuilding the city to King Charles II, although they were never adopted.

With his appointment as King's Surveyor of Works in 1669, he had a presence in the general process of rebuilding the city, but was not directly involved with the rebuilding of houses or companies ' halls.

Wren was personally responsible for the rebuilding of 51 churches ; however, it is not necessarily true to say that each of them represented his own fully developed design.