London: A church famous for its classical music concerts will celebrate the end of two years of renovations with a grand reopening in the heart of London next week.

Prince Charles is scheduled to attend the ceremony at St. Martin-in-the-Fields in London's Trafalgar Square.

The church will host a three-week celebration with baroque orchestra concerts and Church of England services. The restoration project, funded in part by the National Lottery, cost USD 72 million and began in 2006.

"With all the activity of tourism in Trafalgar Square, the need for a place of solitude and retreat from the city was very evident," said architect Eric Parry. "And that's what the church now is."

Parry intended to return the church to the way it looked when architect James Gibbs designed it in the 18th century.

Gone are the ornate decorations and stained glass window that darkened the room. Instead, a stark glass window takes its place and lets in light.

St Martin-in-the-Fields parish was established by Henry VII in the 16th century because he disliked seeing his subjects funeral processions passing by his central London palace. The church crypt once held Charles II's mistress, Nell Gwyn, and victims of the Black Plague, but the bodies were reburied at a different site in the late 1800s. The former crypt is now used as a cafe.

Source : PTI