Nidaros Cathedral
The city of Trondheim is the old capital of Norway and is the oldest of all the large and important cities in the country. Norwegians themselves consider Trondheim for their historical, religious and technological capital.
Undisputed landmark of the city is the Nidaros Cathedral, which is the largest cathedral in Northern Europe. The cathedral of Nidaros was the only Gothic building with such a rank in the country and is considered one of the greatest shrines of Norwegians.
The historical temple Nidaros is one of the most important for pilgrims, who flock there from all parts of Northern Europe. In the past, Nidaros Cathedral was the Norwegian archdiocese since its inception in 1152 until its dissolution in 1537. After the Reformation, the Cathedral Nidaros was turned into a major temple of the Lutheran bishops of Trondheim.
It is believed that King Olaf Haraldsson was buried in the church of the living river Nid, after he was killed at the battle of Stiklestad in 1030. It is believed that today's high altar of the temple Nidaros was the site of the tomb then. Exactly one year and five days after the death of the King, he was proclaimed a saint, causing pilgrims from all over northern Europe flock to the cathedral.
The first stone church around the grave of St. Olav appeared around 1070. It is assumed that the cathedral Nidaros was completed in all its pomp and pageantry around 1300. Soon afterwards the temple Nidaros is celebrated as the most beautiful religious building in the country, which remained roughly unchanged until today. Over the centuries, the cathedral has undergone quite long periods of decline and retrogression, but today, after about 130 years of restoration and reconstruction Nidaros shines in all its beauty and medieval grandeur.
The interior of the cathedral Nidaros has many amazing works of art. The temple is richly ornamented with many stone statues and rich furnishings. It is known that the cathedral had many valuable items during the Middle Ages, but everything is lost today.
The only thing that has remained from that period is a silver ritual cup, which dates from around 1520-1530, and a large coffin, made in 1304, which today is used to store some of the cathedral’s church clothes.
Nidaros Cathedral has centuries of church singing history. Particularly impressive in the perfect Romano-Gothic architecture of the temple is the large organ. It was manufactured in 1930 by the company Steinmeyer. It was put into operation for the 900th anniversary of the Battle of Stiklestad.
Initially the organ was at the northern part of the Cathedral Nidaros, but after restoration it was moved to the western zone. The old baroque cathedral of Nidaros was built by Johann Joachim Wagner between 1738 and 1740 and has been carefully restored by Jürgen Ahrend between 1993-1994. This organ has 30 pipes, while the organ of Steinmeier had a whole 125.
Today the cathedral in Trondheim is mainly used as a parish church, which is located in downtown. Liturgies are conducted several times a week. Nidaros is one of the major tourist attractions in the Norwegian city, around 400, 000 visitors from all over the world passing through the temple every year. Regularly in Nidaros are held and various music events.
