St. Canute's Cathedral - The Second St. Canute's Cathedral

The Second St. Canute's Cathedral

During the civil war between Eric IV and his brother, Abel, Odense and the cathedral were burned down in 1247. The present church was constructed in several phases to replace the aging and inadequate stone church in about 1300 by Bishop Gisico (1287–1300). The new cathedral was built in Gothic style with its typical pointed arches and high vaulted ceilings. The building material of choice for the time was over-sized red brick which was cheaper and easier to work with than the porous stone available. Portions of the stone cathedral were taken down and the new building expanded around the old.

In all it took approximately two hundred years to complete the cathedral, which was finally dedicated on 30 April 1499. The church was built in cruciform shape without a tower. The ancient crypt was expanded in such a way that pilgrims could visit the reliquary of Saint Canute beneath the raised choir without interfering with the canons' hourly services above. The canons also claimed they had relics of Saint Alban which Canute supposedly stole on his 1075 attack on Ely, England.

King Hans of Denmark (d. 1513) was buried in the cathedral in 1513. His wife, Christina of Saxony, who lived the latter part of her life in a nunnery in Odense, commissioned the famous German sculptor Claus Berg to create a magnificent burial chapel in the church of the Franciscan friary in Odense, where both she and her husband were laid to rest after her death in 1521. The son of Hans and Christina, King Christian II, with his wife Isabella of Austria, was also interred in the royal family chapel. In 1807 the former Franciscan church was demolished, and Claus Berg's magnificent late Gothic altarpiece and the bodies of the four royals were transferred to St. Canute's Cathedral. The altarpiece is truly one of Denmark's national treasures. It was carved between 1515 and 1525. Each of the three sections is intricately carved and gilded. It survived the iconoclastic fervour of the Reformation perhaps because of its connection with the royal burials.

The single tower was completed in 1586 over the west entrance in the same style as the rest of the cathedral. Five bells hang in the tower, the oldest from 1300 cast by Adam..., one cast in 1597 by Jens Hansen, a bell cast in 1677, and one from 1767 cast by ... Leitze. The most recent bell was cast by MP Allerup in 1880.

In 1633 Valkendorf's Chapel was added, by all accounts a fine example of Renaissance artistry. Unfortunately it was dismantled in the great restoration of 1868.

Thomas Kingo was made the Lutheran Bishop of Odense in 1634. He was Denmark's most famous psalmist and produced a new hymnbook to which he personally contributed 85 hymns.

1752 Amdie Worm's spectacular organ was installed. The facade of the organ remains, but the organ has been expanded and improved to become the cherished voice of Odense Cathedral.

During restoration work in the 1870s, the crypt which had been closed since the Reformation was refurbished and opened as a chapel, and Saint Canute once more went on display.

• St. Canute's Cathedral seen from Eventyrhaven park. The statue represents Hans Christian Andersen. The yellow building stands on the site of the former St. Canute's Abbey

• Nave

• Altar by the sculptor Claus Berg.

• Detail of altar: a Franciscan friar, possibly intended for Brother Jacob the Dacian

• Hans of Denmark, tombstone by Claus Berg

• The bones of Saint Canute IV of Denmark interred in the cathedral named after him

Coordinates: 55°23′43.44″N 10°23′20.36″E / 55.3954°N 10.3889889°E / 55.3954; 10.3889889