Paternoster Square
wren's lost gateway, found again
A modern square tucked beside St Paul's, free, home to the London Stock Exchange and crowned by a column, with Wren's restored Temple Bar gateway as its grand front door.
Free to visit · City of London · St Paul's · EC4M 7DX
Opening: Always open
Paternoster Square sits right beside St Paul's, on land flattened in the Blitz and rebuilt around the turn of the millennium into a calm pedestrian piazza. It is home to the London Stock Exchange, and at its centre stands a tall Corinthian column topped with a flaming golden urn, a memorial to the Great Fire and a ventilation shaft in disguise.
Its finest feature is the way you enter it. Temple Bar, the only surviving gateway to the old City, designed by Christopher Wren, once stood on Fleet Street, was removed and exiled to a country estate for over a century, and was finally brought back and rebuilt here in 2004 as the grand arched entrance to the square.
It is free, central and surprisingly peaceful given it is steps from one of the most visited spots in London. A good place to sit with a coffee, admire Wren's gateway and look up at the dome of the cathedral rising behind.
Getting there: Immediately north of St Paul's Cathedral, a minute from St Paul's station.
Best time to go: A weekday for the City buzz, or a quiet weekend to admire Temple Bar and the cathedral next door in peace.
Insider tip: Walk in through Temple Bar, Wren's 17th-century gateway that once stood on Fleet Street and was rescued from a country estate to be rebuilt here. It frames a perfect free view through to St Paul's.
Free things to do in London · London Free Guide