He even suggested that the biblical Temple of Solomon had been built in the Tyrian style, criticizing Juan Bautista Villalpando's reconstruction using Corinthian capitals. Perhaps inspired by notions of visits to ancient Britain by the Phoenicians, Wren sought the origin of the Doric order in Tyre.

In the first chapter, “Classical Orders and Lanterns,” he investigates Wren's theory of the “Tyrian order” as an alternative to the Vitruvian narrative of the primitive hut. In a series of essays, Hart examines the possible Eastern influence on particular architectural themes and forms in Wren's work. London was a melting pot of new scientific advances and intellectual research, and as a founding member of the Royal Society, Wren was in the thick of it. During the same period, Londoners were gathering in Ottoman-inspired coffee bars to exchange news and ideas, and in 1679 the first Turkish bathhouse, known as the Royal Bagnio, opened in Newgate Street. Yet cultural horizons extended beyond Europe. 2 Indeed, in Restoration London, French influence permeated all aspects of cultural life, and Rome provided the touchstone for a new identity for the Anglican Church as a rival to Catholicism. 1 Nonetheless, his buildings are replete with French and Italian references, which have been carefully identified in classic monographs such as those by John Summerson, Kerry Downes, and Margaret Whinney. In 1661 he declined the offer of a position in Tangier to fortify the British garrison there, and his only well-documented journey outside Britain was his visit to Paris in 1665–66, when he famously met Gian Lorenzo Bernini. Christopher Wren was a reluctant traveler.

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