Stavanger Cathedral

Stavanger Cathedral
The Cathedral of Saint Swithun
Stavanger domkirke

View of the Cathedral
Stavanger Cathedral
Location in Rogaland county
Stavanger Cathedral
Location in Rogaland county
58°58′11″N 5°43′59″E / 58.969787°N 5.733162°E / 58.969787; 5.733162Coordinates: 58°58′11″N 5°43′59″E / 58.969787°N 5.733162°E / 58.969787; 5.733162
Location Stavanger, Rogaland
Country Norway
Denomination Church of Norway
Previous denomination Roman Catholic
Churchmanship Evangelical Lutheran
Website stavangerdomkirke.no
History
Founded c. 1125
Founder(s) Bishop Reinald
Dedication Saint Swithun
Architecture
Status Cathedral
Functional status Active
Style Romanesque/Gothic
Completed c. 1150
Specifications
Capacity 800
Materials Stone
Administration
Parish Stavanger
Deanery Stavanger domprosti
Diocese Diocese of Stavanger
Clergy
Bishop(s) Erling Johan Pettersen

Stavanger Cathedral (Norwegian: Stavanger domkirke) is Norway's oldest cathedral and the seat of the Bishop of Stavanger who leads the Diocese of Stavanger. It is located in the city of Stavanger in Rogaland county, Norway. The church is situated in the centre of the city, in the borough of Storhaug. The church is part of the "Stavanger domkirke" parish in the Stavanger arch-deanery in the Diocese of Stavanger.[1][2]

History

Bishop Reinald, who may have come from Winchester, is said to have started construction of the Cathedral around 1100. It was finished around 1150, and the city of Stavanger counts 1125 as its year of foundation. The Cathedral was consecrated to Swithin as its patron saint. Saint Swithun was an early Bishop of Winchester and subsequently patron saint of Winchester Cathedral.[3] The church was initially the seat of the Ancient Diocese of Stavanger, a diocese of the Roman Catholic Church until the Protestant Reformation.

Stavanger was ravaged by fire in 1272, and the Cathedral suffered heavy damage. It was rebuilt under bishop Arne, and the Romanesque Cathedral was enlarged in the Gothic style.

In 1682, King Christian V decided to move Stavanger's episcopal seat to Kristiansand, based at the Kristiansand Cathedral. However, on Stavanger's 800th anniversary in 1925, King Haakon VII instated Jacob Christian Petersen as Stavanger's first bishop in nearly 250 years.

During a renovation in the 1860s, the Cathedral's exterior and interior were 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. Andrew Lawrenceson Smith is famous for his works here.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Stavanger domkirke". Kirkesøk: Kirkebyggdatabasen. Retrieved 2016-05-01.
  2. ↑ "Oversikt over Nåværende Kirker" (in Norwegian). KirkeKonsulenten.no. Retrieved 2016-05-01.
  3. ↑ "Ancient See of Stavanger". Catholic Encyclopedia.
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