London Culture: Westminster Cathedral is one of the greatest secrets of London; people heading down Victoria Street on the well-trodden route to more famous sites are astonished to come across a piazza opening up the view to an extraordinary facade of towers, balconies and domes.
The architecture of Westminster Cathedral certainly sets it apart from other London landmarks, owing more to the Byzantine style of the eastern Roman Empire than the familiar Gothic of our native cathedrals.
Its uniqueness is, however, not merely in its external form. Visitors find in Westminster Cathedral a very special place of prayer, a refuge from the busy city, a space to find one's own thoughts. This spiritual atmosphere, shaped through the silence as well as through the music of its celebrated choir, is the chief glory of the Cathedral, and the most extraordinary treasure to be discovered by visitors. |
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