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St Martin-in-the-Fields

St Martin-in-the-Fields stands on the north-east corner of Trafalgar Square, in Westminster. The current building, finished in 1726 to a design by the architect James Gibbs, combines a classical portico of Corinthian columns with a steeple tower and served as a model for numerous colonial churches in North America, such as St. Paul's Chapel in New York. The vaulted ceiling preserves the plaster decoration of Giovanni Battista Bagutti and Chrysostom Wilkins, and to the left of the altar is the royal box, crowned by the coat of arms. The east window, destroyed by German bombs in the Second World War, was replaced in 2008 by a design by the Iranian artist Shirazeh Houshiary, with a distorted oval in etched glass. In the crypt, with its original brick vault and old gravestones in the floor, a café has operated for more than thirty years.

Things to do at St Martin-in-the-Fields: 4 missions

• Attend a free lunchtime concertIf your visit falls on a Monday, Tuesday, Thursday or Friday, go in at 13:00 for the free concert and note who is performing.
• Look at the distorted oval of the east windowStand facing the altar and look at the east window, designed by Shirazeh Houshiary in 2008 to replace the original destroyed by bombs in the Second World War; notice the oval that seems to twist over the glass grid.
• Walk on the gravestones in the cryptGo down to the crypt and find on the floor, among the café tables, some of the old gravestones preserved under the exposed-brick vault.
• Find the royal boxLook to the left of the altar for the royal box and the coat of arms of the United Kingdom painted on the ceiling above it.

Near St Martin-in-the-Fields

Source: Web oficial de St Martin-in-the-Fields