- Stavanger Cathedral
Stavanger Cathedral ("Stavanger domkirke") is
Norway 's oldestcathedral . It is situated in the middle ofStavanger , and is the seat of theDiocese of Stavanger .History
Bishop "Reinald", who may have come from Winchester, is said to have started construction of the Cathedral around 1100. It was finished around 1125, and the city of Stavanger counts 1125 as its year of foundation. The Cathedral was
consecrate d to theHoly Trinity , andSaint Swithun was chosen for itspatron saint .Stavanger was ravaged by fire in 1272, and the Cathedral suffered heavy damage. It was rebuilt under bishop "Arne", and the Romance Cathedral was enlarged in the Gothic style.
In 1682, king Christian V decided to move Stavanger's episcopal seat to
Kristiansand . However, on Stavanger's 800th anniversary in 1925, kingHaakon VII instated "Jacob Christian Petersen" as Stavanger's first bishop in nearly 250 years.During a renovation in the 1860s, the Cathedral's exterior was considerably altered. The stone walls were plastered, and the Cathedral lost much of its medieval looks. A major restoration led by Gerhard Fischer in 1939-1964 partly reversed those changes. The latest major restoration of the Cathedral was conducted in 1999.
ee also
*
List of bishops of Stavanger External links
* [http://www.stavanger-web.com/touristinfo/domkirken.htm Stavanger Cathedral]
* [http://web3.aftenbladet.no/multimedia/pano/domkirken/domkirkepano.html Stavanger Aftenblad: Virtual Tour]
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