Uppsala Cathedral

The Cathedral (Uppsala domkyrka), Sweden's main Lutheran church, is also the seat of the Archbishop of Sweden. Its history goes back to the Viking age, which at the turn of the 11th and 12th centuries built the first Christian church in Old Uppsala. In 1123, the Archbishop of Bremen and Hamburg ordained the priest Siward, who had recently been exiled from Germany, as the first bishop of Uppsala. In 1204, a fire broke out in the church and the bishopric of Uppsala asked the Pope for permission to build a new church. The issue remained unresolved for more than half a century, and in 1271 the Pope appointed the then Bishop of Karous (Biskop Karl av Västerås) to be responsible for the construction of the new cathedral.

The Works began in 1272, and in 1287 French craftsmen led by the architect Étienne de Bonneuil were invited to lead the construction. Due to a chronic lack of funds, construction was slow, then the plague broke out, and the cold climate of inner Sweden also caused a lot of problems. In 1435, the still unfinished cathedral was consecrated in the name of St. Lawrence, St. Eric and St. Olaf.

The building was completed with the completion of the towers in the period of 1470-1489. The style of the cathedral at that time could be defined as "Baltic Gothic". Another city fire in 1702 did not spare the building, and the restoration work took more than half a century.

During the reign of Gustav Vasa (1523-1560), the Swedish Church underwent the Reformation and broke away from Rome. In 1593, the Church Council in Uppsala decided to adopt the Lutheran faith in Sweden.

From 1885 to 1893, a major reconstruction of the building was carried out, the architect Helgo Zettervall tried to give the cathedral a French Gothic look, thanks to which French spires appeared on the towers and the cathedral reached a height of 118.7 m. Since then, it has been the tallest church in Scandinavia. The last restoration of the cathedral was carried out in the early 70s of the 20th century, and in 1989 the church was visited by Pope John Paul II. In 2010, the cathedral's electrical equipment was replaced and a fire protection system was installed.

The traditional decor of Catholic churches was gradually lost, and what can be seen today is mostly new.

The side reliefs of the southern portal, depicting scenes from the Old Testament, date back to the Middle Ages.

To the right of the cathedral is a memorial column dedicated to Jakob Ulvsson, Archbishop of Uppsala in 1469-1515. He initiated the establishment of Uppsala University and was the first rector. The author of the monument is Christian Eriksson.

In the next article, we will explore the interior of the cathedral.