Nidaros Cathedral - Building and Restoration

Building and Restoration

Work on the cathedral started in 1070 and was finished sometime around 1300. The cathedral was badly damaged by fires in 1327 and again in 1531. The nave west of the transept was destroyed and was not rebuilt until the restoration in early 1900s. In 1708 it burned down completely except for the stone walls. It was struck by lightning in 1719, and was again ravaged by fire. Major rebuilding and restoration of the cathedral started in 1869, initially led by architect Heinrich Ernst Schirmer, and nearly completed by Christian Christie. It was officially completed in 2001. Maintenance of the cathedral is an ongoing process.

The oldest parts of the cathedral consist of the octagon with its surrounding ambulatory in which was the original high altar with the reliquary casket of St. Olav and choir. The original inspiration for this octagon may have been the Corona of Canterbury Cathedral, although octagonal shrines have a long history in Christian architecture. The choir itself appears to have been inspired by the Angel Choir of Lincoln Cathedral and is joined to the octagon by a stone screen that fills the entire east side of the choir. The principal arch of this screen is subdivided into three subsidiary arches the central arch framing a statue of Christ the Teacher standing on the top of a central arch of three further subsidiary arches below him. The space above the principal arch and corresponding to the vault of the choir contains a crucifix between statues of the Virgin Mary and the Apostle John by the Norwegian sculptor Gustav Vigeland. Built into the north side of the ambulatory surrounding the octagon is a small well from which a bucket could be lowered to draw up water drawn from the spring that originated from St. Olav's original burial place beneath the later cathedrals.

The present cathedral has two principal altars. The one in the octagon at the east end of the chancel rests on the site of the medieval high altar which bore the silver reliquary casket containing the remains of St. Olav, the church's and the kingdom's patron saint, and is designed to recall in marble sculpture the essential form of this reliquary casket. It replaces the previous baroque altar presently in Vår Frue Church. The second altar is in the crossing where the transept intersect the nave and the chancel. It bears a large modern silver crucifix inspired by the memory of a similar silver crucifix in the medieval church and was commissioned and paid for by Norwegian American emigrants in the early twentieth century. The medieval chapter house may also be used as a chapel for smaller groups of worshipers.

All the stained glass in the cathedral dates from its rebuilding in the 19th and 20th centuries. The windows on the north side of the church depicts scenes from the Old Testament against a blue background, while those on the south side of the church depict scenes from the New Testament against a red background.