Stavanger Cathedral ( no, Stavanger domkirke) is

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 t ...

's oldest

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 ...

and the seat of the

Bishop of Stavanger The Diocese of Stavanger ( no, Stavanger bispedømme) is a diocese in the Church of Norway. It covers all of Rogaland county in western Norway. The cathedral city is Stavanger, where the Stavanger Cathedral is located. The bishop is Anne Lise � ...

who leads the

Diocese of Stavanger The Diocese of Stavanger ( no, Stavanger bispedømme) is a diocese in the Church of Norway. It covers all of Rogaland county in western Norway. The cathedral city is Stavanger, where the Stavanger Cathedral is located. The bishop is Anne Li ...

in the

Church of Norway The Church of Norway ( nb, Den norske kirke, nn, Den norske kyrkja, se, Norgga girku, sma, Nöörjen gærhkoe) is an evangelical Lutheran denomination of Protestant Christianity and by far the largest Christian church in Norway. The church b ...

. It is located in the centre of the city of Stavanger which lies in the southwestern part of the large

Stavanger Municipality Stavanger (, , US usually , ) is a city and municipality in Norway. It is the fourth largest city and third largest metropolitan area in Norway (through conurbation with neighboring Sandnes) and the administrative center of Rogaland county. Th ...

in central

Rogaland Rogaland () is a Counties of Norway, county in Western Norway, bordering the North Sea to the west and the counties of Vestland to the north, Vestfold og Telemark to the east and Agder to the east and southeast. In 2020, it had a population of 47 ...

county,

. The church is situated in the centre of the city, in the borough of

Storhaug Storhaug is a borough of the city of Stavanger which lies in the southwestern part of the large municipality of Stavanger in Rogaland county, Norway. This borough includes the traditional city centre and main harbor along the Byfjorden. It is lo ...

between Breiavatnet in the south, the square with Vågen in the north west, the cathedral square in the north, and Kongsgård in the southwest. It is one of the two churches for the Domkirken og St. Petri

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 ...

which is part of the

Stavanger domprosti This list of churches in Rogaland is a list of the Church of Norway churches in Rogaland county, Norway. The churches are all part of the Diocese of Stavanger. The diocese is based at the Stavanger Cathedral in the city of Stavanger. The list ...

(arch-

deanery A deanery (or decanate) is an ecclesiastical entity in the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Anglican Communion, the Evangelical Church in Germany, and the Church of Norway. A deanery is either the jurisdiction or residenc ...

) in the

. The gray, stone church was built in a long church style around the year 1125 using designs by an unknown

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 ...

. The church seats about 800 people.

History

Bishop Reinald, who may have come from

Winchester Winchester is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs Nation ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, is said to have started construction of the cathedral around 1100. It was finished around 1150: the city of Stavanger counts 1125 as its year of foundation. The cathedral was dedicated to Saint

Swithun Swithun (or Swithin; ang, Swīþhūn; la, Swithunus; died 863 AD) was an Anglo-Saxon bishop of Winchester and subsequently patron saint of Winchester Cathedral. His historical importance as bishop is overshadowed by his reputation for post ...

, an early

Bishop of Winchester The Bishop of Winchester is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Winchester in the Church of England. The bishop's seat (''cathedra'') is at Winchester Cathedral in Hampshire. The Bishop of Winchester has always held ''ex officio'' (except dur ...

and subsequently patron saint of

Winchester Cathedral The Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity,Historic England. "Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity (1095509)". ''National Heritage List for England''. Retrieved 8 September 2014. Saint Peter, Saint Paul and Saint Swithun, commonly known as Winches ...

. The church was initially the seat of the

within the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

until the

Protestant Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

. The church building originally had a wooden, rectangular

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 ...

with a narrower, rectangular, straight-ended and probably lower

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. Ove ...

. To the west it had a tall tower. The city of Stavanger was ravaged by fire in 1272, and the cathedral suffered heavy damage. It was rebuilt under Bishop Arne (1276–1303) at which time the Romanesque cathedral was enlarged 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. The west tower was replaced after the fire with a vestibule with a somewhat larger base. 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 ...

was newly built and extended, but the original width was maintained. Its east façade was erected with two corner towers and a large window. The Romanesque choir had

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 ...

s beneath it. In 1682, King Christian V decided to move Stavanger's episcopal seat to the town of Kristiansand at the

Kristiansand Cathedral Kristiansand Cathedral ( no, Kristiansand domkirke) is a cathedral of the Church of Norway in Kristiansand Municipality in Agder county, Norway. It is located in the Kvadraturen area in the central part of the city of Kristiansand. It is the ch ...

. However, on Stavanger's 800th anniversary in 1925, King

Haakon VII Haakon VII (; born Prince Carl of Denmark; 3 August 187221 September 1957) was the King of Norway from November 1905 until his death in September 1957. Originally a Danish prince, he was born in Copenhagen as the son of the future Frederick VI ...

re-created the

and appointed

Jacob Christian Petersen Jacob Christian Petersen or J.C. Petersen was a Norwegian theologian and priest. He served as the first Bishop of the (modern-day) Diocese of Stavanger from its re-establishment in 1925 until his retirement in 1940. Personal life Jacob Christian ...

(1870-1964) to serve as Stavanger's first bishop in nearly 250 years. During a renovation of the building in the 1860s, the cathedral's exterior and interior were considerably altered. The stone walls were plastered, and the building lost much of its medieval appearance. A major restoration led by architect Gerhard Fischer in 1939–1964 partly reversed those changes. The latest major restoration of the cathedral was conducted in 1999. Scottish craftsman

Andrew Lawrenceson Smith Andrew Lawrenceson Smith, also known as Anders Lauritzen Smith (born in Braco ca. 1620, dead ca. 1694 in Stavanger), was a Scottish craftsman, woodcutter and painter. He was married to Maren Knudsdatter. He is one of the most notable artist ...

(ca. 1620-1694) is well-known for his works in Stavanger Cathedral. At the entrance to the

sacristy A sacristy, also known as a vestry or preparation room, is a room in Christian churches for the keeping of vestments (such as the alb and chasuble) and other church furnishings, sacred vessels, and parish records. The sacristy is usually located ...

there are sculptures of King

Magnus VI Magnus Haakonsson ( non, Magnús Hákonarson, no, Magnus Håkonsson, label= Modern Norwegian; 1 (or 3) May 1238 – 9 May 1280) was King of Norway (as Magnus VI) from 1263 to 1280 (junior king from 1257). One of his greatest achievements was the ...

, King Eric II and King

Haakon V Haakon V Magnusson (10 April 1270 – 8 May 1319) ( non, Hákon Magnússon; no, Håkon Magnusson, label=Modern Norwegian) was king of Norway from 1299 until 1319. Biography Haakon was the younger surviving son of Magnus the Lawmender, Kin ...

. The

baptismal font A baptismal font is an article of church furniture used for baptism. Aspersion and affusion fonts The fonts of many Christian denominations are for baptisms using a non-immersive method, such as aspersion (sprinkling) or affusion (pouring). ...

is estimated to be from around the year 1300. The Bishop's chair is from 1925.

Election 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 th ...

which wrote the

Constitution of Norway nb, Kongeriket Norges Grunnlov nn, Kongeriket Noregs Grunnlov , jurisdiction =Kingdom of Norway , date_created =10 April - 16 May 1814 , date_ratified =16 May 1814 , system =Constitutional monarchy , b ...

. 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 E ...

later that year.

Architecture

The Stavanger Cathedral basilica has three aisles with

diaphragm arch A diaphragm arch is a transverse wall-bearing arch forming a partial wall dividing a vault or a ceiling into compartments. When used under a wooden roof, it has the advantage of providing a partial firebreak. It was first used in Roman Syri ...

es and an elevated central

of Romanesque design. At one end of the nave is a square

surrounding the altar. The central nave is an

arcade Arcade most often refers to: * Arcade game, a coin-operated game machine ** Arcade cabinet, housing which holds an arcade game's hardware ** Arcade system board, a standardized printed circuit board * Amusement arcade, a place with arcade games * ...

with round pillars along its length. The capitals on the pillars contains many figures depicting scenes of Ragnarok ( no, End of Days). Further masonry decorations include

palmette The palmette is a motif in decorative art which, in its most characteristic expression, resembles the fan-shaped leaves of a palm tree. It has a far-reaching history, originating in ancient Egypt with a subsequent development through the art o ...

s and arcatures on

cornice In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, around the top edge of a ...

s. The east exterior of the building has two towers that contain

lancet window A lancet window is a tall, narrow window with a pointed arch at its top. It acquired the "lancet" name from its resemblance to a lance. Instances of this architectural element are typical of Gothic church edifices of the earliest period. Lancet wi ...

s. There are a variety of sculptures between the towers and central building. Around the year 1660, the

parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an extension of the wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/breast'). Whe ...

of the gallery was decorated with motifs copied from the ''Cor Iesu Amanti Sacrum'' series, otherwise known as Emblems from the Heart. Of the original six motifs, three are on display in Stavanger Museum.

Media gallery

File:Stavanger Dom03.jpg, Exterior view File:Stavanger domkirke2.JPG, Front view File:Stavanger Cathedral.jpg, Front view File:Stavanger Domkirke.jpg, Rear view (east end) File:Stavanger Domkirke by Imelda Pratiwi.JPG, Nave File:Font Stavanger domkirke.JPG, Baptismal font File:Stavanger Domkirke - 05.jpg, Doorway on the south side File:Stavanger Cathedral Bishop's chair.JPG, Bishop’s Chair File:Stavanger Dom St. Svithun Innen Chorfenster.JPG, Choir window File:Stavanger Cathedral pulpit.jpg, Pulpit File:Eirik Magnusson.JPG, Bust of King Eric II

References

External links

Stavanger domkirke websiteStavanger Cathedral
{{use dmy dates, date=October 2020 Cathedrals in Norway Churches in Stavanger Former Roman Catholic cathedrals in Norway Stone churches in Norway Gothic architecture in Norway Lutheran cathedrals in Norway 12th-century churches in Norway 12th-century establishments in Norway Norwegian election church