Trondheim - Day 2

 Saturday 2^nd June

Today we planned to visit the Nidaros Cathedral the principal church and Norway’s National Shrine.  Work on the building started in 1070 and it was originally a small church which grew and when it was completed in in the 1300s was recognised as a cathedral.  In 1152 it was established as the seat of the Roman Catholic Archbishop until the Reformation in 1537 when it became the cathedral of the Lutheran Bishop of Trondheim.

In the 13, 15 and 1700s the church was badly damaged by fires and the nave west of the transept wasn’t rebuilt until the 1900s after the major restoration work commenced in 1869.  The stained glass windows which are installed on two levels and were made during the restoration work in the 19^th and 20^th centuries, the Rose window in the west has over 10,000 pieces.

The present cathedral has two principal altars, the one in the  east end of the chancel rests on the site of the medieval high altar which bore the silver reliquary casket containing the remains of St Olav the church's and the kingdom's patron saint, until a king in the middle ages moved it.

 

The church has been the traditional place of coronation of the Kings of Norway but the last two kings have elected to have a benediction instead of a crowning.

When we arrived we decided to climb the 172 narrow winding steps to the tower for a view over Trondheim also the roof and tops of the walls and buttresses of the cathedral which are decorated with heads and other mythical creatures, the workmanship of the restoration’s craftsmen was equal to their predecessors.

Two organs are installed in the Cathedral. The main organ was built by the Steinmeyer firm in 1930, and was erected in the north transept. It then had 125 stops and in 1962 it was rebuilt and moved to the west nave.  The guide book now states it has 127 registers and 9600 pipes, many of the pipes are installed on the balconies along the nave which provides “surround sound”. 

We returned to the cathedral at 1:30 for prayers and the organ recital, at times the music came from the pipes in organ loft in the west and then from the east and then all around us.

Our next visit was to the Archbishop’s Palace museum which contains many of the sculptures removed from the damaged cathedral.  Over the years the palace, like the cathedral has been damaged by fire and during excavations the Archbishop’s mint was discovered, some early Archbishops received the authority from the king to mint and distribute coins.  Also many artefact have been recovered which have provided an insight to life in the palace through the centuries.

From the Archbishop’s museum we went to the regalia museum, this contains an interesting history and details of the kings of Norway from Olav Tryggvason who founded the city in 997 through to the present day king.  In the cellar (crypt) the Royal Regalia of Norway including crown jewels is displayed and includes, the king's crown, the sword of the realm, the king's sceptre, the king's orb, the queen's crown, the queen's sceptre, the queen's orb, the crown of the crown prince and the anointing horn. Also in this collection are several coronation robes, two banners of the realm and coronation thrones.

The king’s crown jewels were made for the coronation of King Carl Johan in 1818, the king also paid for them and the queen’s regalia was acquired in 1830.

When we were on the cathedral tower we could see Kristiansten Fortress high on a hill and decided to walk up the hill to visit it.  We soon found out why it had never been captured, any army trying to attack up the hill would have been exhausted by the time they reached the top.  The fortress was built in 1681 and saved the city from conquest by Sweden in 1718.  During the German occupation it was used as a place of execution for members of the Norwegian Resistance.

Today was the first day the fortress was open for the summer season and we were treated to a display of marching with drum and fife, musket volleys and other people dressed in period army uniforms.  They were camped in the grounds, together with their families, who were also dressed in period costume.

On our way back to the hotel, in a pedestrian mall we encountered a male choir singing popular songs, one “When the Saints” they sang part of it using the “Alleluia Chorus” as the melody, an interesting adaption.