Christopher Wren, the leading architect of London's reconstruction after the great fire of 1666, lies buried beneath the floor of his most famous building, Saint Paul's Cathedral. No elaborate sarcophagus adorns the site. Instead, we find only the famous epitaph written by his son and now inscribed in the floor: si monumentum requiris, circumspice-"if you are searching for his monument, look around." A tad grandiose perhaps, but I have never read a finer testimony to the central importance-one might even say sacredness-of actual places, rather than replicas, symbols, or other forms of vicarious resemblance.
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