Nidaros Cathedral — cathedral
Image by Michelle-Maria from Pixabay

Nidaros Cathedral

  • 2 min read
  • 63.427° N 10.397° E

Interesting facts

  • Only five medieval statues survived on the west front; rebuilding its sculpture took from 1905 to 1983 and involved a long line of sculptors.
  • The north-west tower holds Norway's largest church bell, a 2,400 kg giant installed in 1964 that is said to carry about 30 km on the right wind.
  • A red stone set in the centre of the west rose window recalls a medieval account of a gilded rose whose red gem dazzled anyone who looked at it.
  • The only surviving relic of Saint Olav is a thighbone in an arm-shaped silver reliquary, given by Queen Josephine to St Olav's Catholic Cathedral in Oslo.
  • Olav Kyrre's first stone church here, finished around 1090, was about 50 metres long, the largest in Norway, and the burial place of most 11th- and 12th-century royals.
  • In 1814 the cathedral served as a polling station for Norway's first national election, which chose the assembly that wrote the constitution.
  • Archbishop Sigurd Eindridesson laid the cornerstone of the west front in 1248, and it was still unfinished when fire struck the church in 1328.
  • The silver crucifix on the crossing altar was paid for by Norwegian-American emigrants in the early 20th century, recalling a lost medieval one.
  • The Steinmeyer organ was built in 1930 for the 900th anniversary of the Battle of Stiklestad and originally had 125 stops.
  • The cathedral appears on the cover of De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas, the 1994 album by the Norwegian black metal band Mayhem.

Why it is worth it

Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim is the northernmost medieval cathedral in the world and the national shrine of Norway. It stands over the burial place of King Olav II Haraldsson, who fell at the Battle of Stiklestad in 1030 and was soon venerated as Saint Olav, the patron of Norway. Work on a stone church over the grave began around 1070 under his nephew Olav Kyrre, and the present Romanesque and Gothic building was substantially complete by about 1300. It became the cathedral of a Catholic archdiocese in 1152 and has been Lutheran since the Reformation of 1537; Norwegian kings are still consecrated here.

The history of the building is one of fire and rebuilding. Fires in 1327 and 1531 destroyed the nave, the church burned down to its stone walls in 1708, and lightning struck again in 1719. A great restoration began in 1869 under Heinrich Ernst Schirmer and was taken up by Christian Christie; it was officially declared complete only in 2001, and the cathedral's own stonemasons' workshop still maintains it. The rebuilt west front, lined with rows of sculpted figures, is the cathedral's great show façade.

Inside, head for the east end. The octagon, the oldest part, once held the silver shrine of Saint Olav behind the high altar; the Danish king Christian II had the reliquary melted down for coin, and the saint's bones were reburied in an unknown place under the floor. The choir shows the influence of English Gothic, with parallels drawn to Canterbury and Lincoln, and the choir screen carries a crucifix by Gustav Vigeland. A small well in the ambulatory once drew water from the spring at Olav's first grave. All the stained glass is modern, from the rebuilding, with Old Testament scenes on blue grounds to the north and New Testament scenes on red to the south. Music lovers should look for the restored Baroque organ built by Joachim Wagner in 1738–40.

The cathedral is again a pilgrimage goal: walkers arriving on the St Olav Ways traditionally circle the church three times before entering, and the St Olav festival around the anniversary of his death draws crowds. Next door, the Archbishop's Palace displays the Norwegian crown regalia.

Getting there

The cathedral stands in central Trondheim. Trondheim Airport Værnes (TRD) is about 27 km away; local trains run from the airport station to Trondheim in about 40 minutes, and airport coaches serve the city centre several times an hour.

On these lists

The Most Beautiful Places in Norway 38The Most Beautiful Cathedrals Seen on Screen 17The Most Beautiful Churches Seen on Screen 21The Most Beautiful Sacred Places Seen on Screen 34The Most Beautiful Medieval Cathedrals 48The Most Beautiful Medieval Churches 57The Most Beautiful Cathedrals 81The Most Beautiful Medieval Sacred Places 123The Most Beautiful Churches 186The Most Beautiful Medieval Places 204The Most Beautiful Film Locations 221The Most Beautiful Sacred Places 623

From the encyclopaedia

Nidaros Cathedral is a Church of Norway cathedral located in the city of Trondheim in Trøndelag county. It is built over the burial site of King Olav II, who brought Christianity to Norway and became the patron saint of the nation; the consecration of new Norwegian monarchs occurs at Nidaros Cathedral. It was built over a 230-year period, from 1070 to 1300 when it was substantially completed. However additional work, additions and renovations have continued intermittently since then, including a major reconstruction starting in 1869 and completed in 2001. Nidaros Cathedral is a popular place of Evangelical-Lutheran Christian pilgrimage, with several thousand pilgrims visiting it each year. Mass and the Divine Office, according to the Evangelical-Lutheran tradition, are celebrated daily at Nidaros Cathedral, in addition to other prayer services that are held there throughout the day.

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