For the first time, the choir at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London will have girls

London. For the first time in its 900-year history, girls will be part of the choir that will perform at Christmas mass tomorrow at the majestic St. Paul’s Cathedral in London.

The choir, made up of adults and children, will perform in the basement of the cathedral’s 111-metre dome, designed by architect Christopher Wren after the Great Fire of 1666 destroyed its medieval predecessor and much of the surrounding ancient city. .

The first two girls to officially become chorus girls arrived last June.

Completed in 1711, Wren’s massive Portland Stone Cathedral – modeled on St Peter’s in Rome – sits atop Ludgate Hill in London’s financial district. Its enormous dome can be seen from miles away, and by law new buildings are not allowed to block the view from various distant points.

During the Second World War, night after night under siege from German bombing raids, it became a symbol of Londoners’ resistance.

The cathedral has been the site of numerous state events, including the 1981 wedding of Prince Charles, now king, to Diana Spencer, and the funerals of former prime ministers Winston Churchill in 1965 and Margaret Thatcher in 2013.

Many of Britain’s great personalities are buried in the cathedral, for example, the Duke of Wellington and Wren himself.

The architect’s tomb is covered by a simple marble slab and nearby there is a plaque that says in Latin: If you’re looking for Wren’s monument, look around.