A giant wooden replica of 17th-century London has been set ablaze in the city on the River Thames, marking the 350th anniversary of the devastating Great Fire of London.

The 1666 inferno destroyed most of the walled inner city dating back to Roman times — a bustling, congested maze of tightly-packed wooden houses — and forced London to rebuild anew from the ashes.

Now the city is looking back to when it lay in ruins — with a few shuddering sights to remind Londoners of the peril faced by their predecessors.

The replica of 17th-century London on a barge floating on the river Thames. Photo: Getty.

The Great Fire of London broke out in Thomas Farrinor’s bakery on Pudding Lane shortly after midnight on September 2, 1666, and gradually spread through the city before finally being extinguished on September 5.

The 120-metre-long wooden replica of old London — built by US “burn artist” David Best — is moored in the River Thames to prevent the fire from spreading again.

The 120m-long wooden sculpture replica of London’s skyline. Photo: Getty.

Various scapegoats, chiefly Catholics and foreigners, were blamed for the blaze that killed six people and caused the relocation of thousands of people.

The London of today, with its characteristic English Baroque architecture in grey Portland stone, was built from the ashes of the wooden city, though the old street layout was retained to respect property rights.