Nidaros Cathedral

Nidaros Cathedral (Norwegian: Nidarosdomen / Nidaros Domkirke) is a cathedral of the Church of Norway located in the city of Trondheim in Trøndelag county. It is built over the burial site of King Olav II (c. 995-1030, reigned 1015-1028), who became the patron saint of the nation, and is the traditional location for the consecration of new kings of Norway. It was built over a long period of 230 years, from 1070 to 1300 when it was substantially completed. But additional work, additions and renovations continued occasionally intermittently for seven more centuries until 2001, and designated as the cathedral for the Diocese of Nidaros in 1152. After going the turmoil and controversies of the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century, it was taken from the Catholic Church by the newly reformed established state Church of Norway in 1537, which adopted and following the teachings and reforms of Martin Luther, Phillip Melancthon and others, becoming Evangelical Lutheran. Nidaros is the northernmost medieval cathedral in the world.

The cathedral is the main church for the Nidaros og Vår Frue parish, the seat of the Nidaros domprosti (arch-deanery), and the seat of the Bishop of the Diocese of Nidaros. The Preses of the Church of Norway is also based at this cathedral. The large, stone church seats about 1,850 people and it was historically used as the site of coronation of the kings of Norway.

History

Nidaros Cathedral was built beginning in 1070 to memorialize the burial place of Olav II of Norway, the king who was killed in 1030 in the Battle of Stiklestad. He was canonized as Saint Olav a year later by Grimketel, the Bishop of Nidaros (the canonization was later confirmed by the pope[a]). It was designated the cathedral of the Catholic Archdiocese of Nidaros from its establishment in 1152 until its abolition in 1537 under the Reformation.

Since the Reformation, it has served as the cathedral of the Lutheran bishops of Trondheim (or Nidaros) in the Diocese of Nidaros. The architectural style of the cathedral is Romanesque and Gothic....