Story
The story of Uppsala Cathedral
At 118.7 metres, this is the tallest church in the Nordic countries, and since the architect Helgo Zettervall added pointed French spires during his restoration from 1885 to 1893, it has been exactly as high as it is long. Its story begins at Gamla Uppsala, about 5 kilometres to the north, where the old cathedral was damaged by fire in 1204. The Pope allowed a move in 1258, on condition that the name Uppsala be kept.
Work began here in Östra Aros about 1272, on the spot where Sweden's patron saint Eric had attended mass before he was murdered in 1160, and the town soon took the name Uppsala. French architects, among them the master builder Étienne de Bonneuil, designed it in the French Gothic style, and progress was slowed by the cold climate, plague and money troubles.
Saint Eric is buried here, as are King Gustav Vasa, Carl Linnaeus and Emanuel Swedenborg, and Swedish monarchs were crowned here until 1719.
This story is compiled from Wikipedia and other open sources; dates and numbers are checked against the source. The text is shared under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence. Source ↗
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More highlights in Uppsala
- Linnaeus HammarbyLinnaeus's Hammarby is a historic house museum and mansion, and one of three botanical gardens belonging to Uppsala University, located in Sweden. It is situated about ten kilometres (6.2 mi) southeast of Uppsala.
- Gamla UppsalaGamla Uppsala is a parish and a village outside Uppsala in Sweden. It had 17,973 inhabitants in 2016. As early as the 3rd century AD and the 4th century AD and onwards, it was an important religious, economic and political centre.
- Old Uppsala ChurchChurch in Gamla Uppsala, standing on a site with prehistoric roots; it once served as a cathedral and archbishop's seat.
- GustavianumGustavianum is the oldest standing building at Uppsala University. It was built between 1622 and 1625, and was used as the main building of the university between 1778 and 1887. Since 1997, it has been used as the university's museum.
- Håga kurganThe Håga mound (Hågahögen) or King Björn's Mound (Kung Björns hög) is a large Nordic Bronze Age tumulus in the western outskirts of Uppsala, Sweden. It is one of the most magnificent remains from the Nordic Bronze Age.
- Museum of Evolution of Uppsala UniversityThe Museum of Evolution of Uppsala University is a natural history museum in Sweden, and holds Scandinavia's largest fossil collection of dinosaurs.