Molde Cathedral ( no, Molde domkirke) is a

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 denominatio ...

of the Church of Norway in

Molde Municipality Molde () is a town and municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Romsdal. It is located on the Romsdal Peninsula, surrounding the Fannefjord and Moldefjord. The administrative centre of the ...

in Møre og Romsdal county,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

. It is located in the town of Molde. It is the church for the ''Molde domkirke''

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one o ...

as well as the seat of the

Molde domprosti Molde () is a town and List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Møre og Romsdal Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Romsdal. It is located on the Romsdal Pen ...

(arch- deanery) and the episcopal seat of the Diocese of Møre. The white, brick church was built in a long church

basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica is a large public building with multiple functions, typically built alongside the town's Forum (Roman), forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek East. The building ...

design in 1957 by the

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

Finn Bryn. The church seats about 700 people. This building was built to replace an earlier church here, and it is the third church to be located on the same site. It became a cathedral in 1983 when the Diocese of Møre was created.

Structure

The cathedral is a double-nave

that has a free-standing bell tower next to the main building. The cathedral seats about 1000 people. The church building is shaped like a long "basilica", but with a central aisle and another on the north side, but not on the south side. The entrance consists of two copper-clad doors surrounded by fields in natural concrete under a gable roof. The square campanile (bell tower) is at the church's southwest corner, and it is approximately tall. Behind the church's main entry doors to the west, there is a spacious rectangular foyer which leads into the

sanctuary A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred place, such as a shrine. By the use of such places as a haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This secondary use can be categorized into human sanctuary, a sa ...

History

The first church in Molde was built in 1662 and it was a wooden,

cruciform Cruciform is a term for physical manifestations resembling a common cross or Christian cross. The label can be extended to architectural shapes, biology, art, and design. Cruciform architectural plan Christian churches are commonly describe ...

building. The original site of the church was about to the north of the present church. In 1814, this church served as an

election church An election church ( no, valgkirke) is a term used for approximately 300 churches in Norway that were used as polling stations during the elections to the Norwegian Constituent Assembly at Eidsvoll in 1814. This was Norway's first national election ...

( no, valgkirke). Together with more than 300 other parish churches across Norway, it was a polling station for elections to the 1814

Norwegian Constituent Assembly The Norwegian Constituent Assembly (in Norwegian ''Grunnlovsforsamlingen'', also known as ''Riksforsamlingen'') is the name given to the 1814 constitutional assembly at Eidsvoll in Norway, that adopted the Norwegian Constitution and formalised t ...

which wrote the Constitution of Norway. This was Norway's first national elections. Each

church parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

was a constituency that elected people called "electors" who later met together in each county to elect the representatives for the assembly that was to meet in

Eidsvoll Eidsvoll (; sometimes written as ''Eidsvold'') is a municipality in Akershus in Viken county, Norway. It is part of the Romerike traditional region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Sundet. General information ...

later that year. In 1841–42, the church was heavily renovated and large portions being rebuilt in essentially the same style. On 17 May 1885, a cannon was fired from the heights above the church in a salute celebrating a holiday. Unfortunately, the cannonball struck the church tower, causing a fire which destroyed the church. In 1887, a wooden

neo-Gothic 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 ...

dragestil Dragestil ("Dragon Style") is a style of design and architecture that originated in Norway and was widely used principally between 1880 and 1910. It is a variant of the more embracing National Romantic style and an expression of Romantic nationali ...

long church was built to replace it in 1887. This building was designed by

Henrik Nissen Johannes Henrik Nissen ( 21 April 1848 – 4 June 1915) was a Norwegian architect. Personal life He was born in Christiania as a son of school manager Hartvig Nissen (1815–1874) and Karen Magdalena Aas (1820–1900). He was a great-grandson ...

. This church burned down during the bombing of Molde on 29 April 1940 (during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

). After the war was over, planning for a new church began, to designs by architect Finn Bryn (1890-1975), who was awarded the contract after winning a competition for a new church in Molde in 1948. The new church would be built about south of the old church site. Total costs came in about . The

foundation stone The cornerstone (or foundation stone or setting stone) is the first stone set in the construction of a masonry foundation. All other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entire structure. Over tim ...

was laid in 1953 and it was completed in 1957. The new building was consecrated on 8 December 1957.

Bishops

The cathedral has been the seat of 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 c ...

of the Diocese of Møre since its establishment in 1983. The following Bishops have served in this cathedral: * Ole Nordhaug (1983-1991) * Odd Bondevik (1991-2008) * Ingeborg Midttømme (since 2008)

Media gallery

Molde Cathedral 2009 1.JPG, Campanile (bell tower) Molde domkyrkje.jpg, Exterior (looking east) Molde Kirche.jpg, Exterior tower (looking northwest) View of Molde church.jpg, Exterior (looking northeast) MoldeDomkirkeInni.jpg, Interior S. 27 - Molde stereofotografi - no-nb digifoto 20150803 00295 bldsa stereo 0585.jpg, View of the exterior S. 27 - Molde stereofotografi - no-nb digifoto 20150803 00287 bldsa stereo 0577.jpg, View of the interior altarpiece

References

External links