Skara Cathedral ( sv, Skara domkyrka) is a

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chris ...

in the town of

Skara Skara is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality and the seat of Skara Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden with 18,580 inhabitants in 2013. Despite its small size, it is one of the oldest cities in Sweden, and has a long educational and ecc ...

, Sweden. The

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denomination ...

is the seat for the

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

of the

Diocese of Skara The Diocese of Skara ( sv, Skara stift) is the oldest existing diocese in Sweden, originally a Latin bishopric of the Roman Catholic church, and since Protestant reformation a Lutheran diocese of the Church of Sweden (the former state church of ...

of the

Church of Sweden The Church of Sweden ( sv, Svenska kyrkan) is an Evangelical Lutheran national church in Sweden. A former state church, headquartered in Uppsala, with around 5.6 million members at year end 2021, it is the largest Christian denomination in Sw ...

History

Its history is traced from the 10th century, but its current appearance in the

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

style originated in the 13th century. The

choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which ...

dates back to the early 13th century, whilst the

transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform ("cross-shaped") building withi ...

and

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

took shape a century later. The cathedral was damaged and restored on several occasions, making its current appearance rather modern. In the 1760s, it was given a

baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

southern facade. The current

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

design dates to restorations in 1886–1894 under architect

Helgo Zettervall Helgo Nikolaus Zettervall, older spelling ''Zetterwall'', (21 November 1831 – 17 March 1907) was a Swedish architect and professor of the Royal Swedish Academy of Arts. He is best known for his drastic restorations of churches and other b ...

(1831–1907). The previously flat twin towers were given pointed Gothic spires. The 37 mosaic stained glass windows were created by the artist Bo Beskow (1906-1989) in cooperation with

glazier A glazier is a tradesman responsible for cutting, installing, and removing glass (and materials used as substitutes for glass, such as some plastics).Elizabeth H. Oakes, ''Ferguson Career Resource Guide to Apprenticeship Programs'' ( Infobase: ...

Gustav Ringström between 1945 and 1976. The motifs are mostly biblical, but the two Swedish

saints In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual res ...

Bridget of Sweden Bridget of Sweden (c. 1303 – 23 July 1373) born as Birgitta Birgersdotter, also Birgitta of Vadstena, or Saint Birgitta ( sv, heliga Birgitta), was a mystic and a saint, and she was also the founder of the Bridgettines nuns and monks after t ...

and

Helena of Skövde Helena of Sköfde (d. 1164, also called Helen or Elin) was a Swedish saint and patron to what is now Västergötland, in southwest Sweden, where she was born. Her father might have been a duke (or jarl) named Guthorm.Mershman, Francis (1913)"St ...

are also depicted. No windows from the medieval church have been preserved. There are four bells in the two towers on the west side. The northern tower contains the large bell, cast in 1725 and enlarged in 1785, while three smaller bells hang in the southern tower. The church is long and the towers reach a height of . The church has a

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...

crypt A crypt (from Latin ''crypta'' "vault") is a stone chamber beneath the floor of a church or other building. It typically contains coffins, sarcophagi, or religious relics. Originally, crypts were typically found below the main apse of a chur ...

that was found in 1949 after having been buried under stones since the 13th century. A

grave A grave is a location where a dead body (typically that of a human, although sometimes that of an animal) is buried or interred after a funeral. Graves are usually located in special areas set aside for the purpose of burial, such as grave ...

, containing a skeleton, was found in the crypt, which is within the oldest (10th century) part of the cathedral. Some remains of the original 10th century structure can still be seen in the crypt.

Gallery

File:Altare 02.JPG, Altar File:Skara domkyrka, den 20 aug 2006, bild 6.JPG, Nave File:Skara domkyrka, den 20 aug 2006, bild 20.JPG, Entrance at the north transept File:Skara domkyrka 4 profeter.jpg, Statues of four prophets File:Skara_domkyrka,_den_20_aug_2006,_bild_21.JPG, Chancel window File:Predikstol 03.JPG, Pulpit File:Skara domkyrka, den 20 aug 2006, bild 14.JPG, Stone reliefs (12th century) File:Waldemar of Sweden (1240s) bust 2009 Skara (2).jpg, Portrait bust of King Valdemar

Notes

References

Other Sources

* Wideen, Harald (1993) ''Skara Domkyrka, kort historik och vägledning'' (Stockholm: Kungl. Vetenskaps- och vitterhets-samhället) *Beskow, Bo (1985) ''Ny himmel, ny jord : en bok om Bo Beskows fönster i Skara domkyrka'' (Stockholm: Legenda)

External links

Skara Domkyrka official website
Lutheran cathedrals in Sweden Gothic architecture in Sweden Roman Catholic cathedrals in pre-Reformation Sweden Churches in Västra Götaland County Churches in the Diocese of Skara {{Sweden-church-stub