In looking through the archives the other day, I realized I did not have any posts about one of the most unique and oldest buildings in Stavanger - The Cathedral.
The building of the cathedral began around year 1100 (though there are indications that an older wooden church from around 1025 lies underneath the stone building. Stavanger was actually established as a separate bishopric in 1125. The cathedral itself is dedicated to St. Swithun, who was chosen by the first bishop of Stavanger, Reinald (he was later hanged for not telling the king where the holy treasury was.)
There was a fire in the cathedral in 1272. Some speculate that this was intentional so as to get money to build a bigger cathedral. There is a definite difference in the architecture between the original part of the church and the part built after it burned.
One of the next major events was the changeover from Catholicism to Lutheran, which occurred in 1537.
There is a school attached to the cathedral, and it is among the oldest continually used schools in Norway. The cathedral itself has been in continual use for over 900 years.
On another note, we depart Friday for Tromso for an attempt at dog-sledding and hopefully a view of the Northern Lights. We hope to get plenty of good pictures and not freeze our bums off!
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