Bergen Cathedral

Bergen Cathedral
Bergen domkirke

View of the church
Bergen Cathedral
Location in Hordaland county
60°23′38″N 5°19′50″E / 60.3939°N 5.3305°E / 60.3939; 5.3305Coordinates: 60°23′38″N 5°19′50″E / 60.3939°N 5.3305°E / 60.3939; 5.3305
Location Bergen, Hordaland
Country Norway
Denomination Church of Norway
Churchmanship Evangelical Lutheran
History
Founded Before 1181
Events Renovated several
times, most recently
in the 1880s
Architecture
Status Parish church
Functional status Active
Architect(s) Christian Christie
(1880s renovation)
Specifications
Capacity 1000
Materials Stone
Administration
Parish Bergen domkirke
Deanery Bergen domprosti
Diocese Diocese of Bjørgvin

Bergen Cathedral (Norwegian: Bergen domkirke) a cathedral in Bergen municipality in Hordaland county, Norway. It is located in the city of Bergen. The church is the seat of the "Bergen domkirke" parish and the seat of the Bergen arch-deanery in the Diocese of Bjørgvin. It is part of the Church of Norway. The first recorded historical reference to this church is dated 1181. It retains its ancient dedication to Saint Olaf. The cathedral seats about 1000 people.[1][2][3]

History

During the reign of king Haakon IV of Norway, a Franciscan friary was established near the church, then known as Olavskirken, or the church of Saint Olaf, which was incorporated in it. The church burned down in 1248 and again in 1270, but was reconstructed after both fires. In 1463, it burned down again, but this time it was not reconstructed until the 1550s, despite being declared the cathedral in 1537.[4]

After the fires of 1623 and 1640, Bergen Cathedral received its current general appearance. The steeple on the nave was torn down, and the current tower was built. During the renovation in the 1880s by architect Christian Christie, the Rococo interior was replaced to give the interiors back their former medieval appearance.

A cannonball from the 1665 Battle of Vågen between the English and Dutch fleets remains embedded in the cathedral's exterior wall.[4]

Music

The present organ at Bergen Cathedral, by Rieger Orgelbau, is from 1997. The organ is the fifth one in the cathedral's history; the first known organ was installed in 1549.[5] The cathedral is used regularly for musical concerts.

On 18 March 2007, the Drone Metal band Sunn O))) recorded their live album Dømkirke in the cathedral during the Borealis festival.

Media gallery

See also

References

  1. 2011 edition of the cathedral tourist guide leaflet: "Welcome to Bergen Cathedral - St Olav's Church".
  2. "Bergen domkirke". Kirkesøk: Kirkebyggdatabasen. Retrieved 2014-08-09.
  3. "Oversikt over Nåværende Kirker" (in Norwegian). KirkeKonsulenten.no. Retrieved 2014-08-09.
  4. 1 2 Gunnar Hagen Hartvedt (1994). "Domkirken". Bergen Byleksikon: 157–158.
  5. Skreien, Norvall (1999). Bergen kulturguide. Kunnskapsforlaget. p. 22. ISBN 8257309893.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Wednesday, August 13, 2014. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.