Cathedral, Uppsala

It is nearly impossible to miss seeing the spires of the Uppsala Cathedral..one of the largest in Europe. The foundation was laid approximately 1260 AD and the original church was completed 175 years later. The church has burned several times in its long history but has been almost fully restored in the last 20 years.

The walls and domes are all handpainted. Many famous Swedes are buried in the church: Gustav Vasa, Carolus Linnaeus, Eric the Holy and Johan III.

At the time that we visited in 1997, there was no admission charge. You also were allowed to use your camera in the church ...not so, for instance at the Cathedral in Trondheim.

Many cathedrals have become simply tourist attractions. However, in this church, there were all kinds of activities going on in various parts of the cathedral....communion was being served to a group in one area and a prayer concert was happening in another as the many tourists were eagerly shooting their photos!

There is an amazing website for the cathedral that gives you a virtual tour of the cathedral, all the necessary information about it, including the history:

In English see: www.uppsaladomkyrka.com
In Swedish see: www.uppsaladomkyra.nu

Church Open Every Day 8am-6pm
Info Desk 1am-3pm Mon-Sat, 12:30pm-3pm Sunday and Holidays

Construction began around 1260, consecration took place in 1435 after 175 years of work. Now the largest church in Scandinavia. Here there are several unique architectural details and a large number of supreme artistic objects from eight centuries. Pilgrims have made their journey to the reliquary of Erik the Holy ever since the cathedral was new. From the Middle Ages until the 18th century, the Swedish sovereigns were crowned here, and here lie the graves of many famous Swedes: Gustavus Vasa, Carolus Linnaeus, Nathan Söderblom... Uppsala Cathedral is the Church of Sweden´s national shrine, the diocese cathedral of the Uppsala diocese and the parish church of Uppsala parish. The Treasure Chamber Museum is housed in the cathedral's northern tower.

The leviathan cathedral of Uppsala is the largest church in Sweden and dates back to the 13th century. Venture inside to discover plenty of interred worthies including Olaus Rubeck whose laudable pursuits included discovering the lymphatic system and the rather more questionable pastime of seeking to prove Uppsala was the true location of the lost city of Atlantis!

Largest and tallest church in Scandinavia, whose construction began around 1260, with consecration taking place in 1435. National shrine of the Church of Sweden. Reliquary shrine of Erik the Holy, pulpit from Baroque period, modern wall textiles. Burial church for many famous Swedes: King Gustav I (Vasa), Carl Linnaeus, Nathan Söderblom, and others. Treasury with textiles and silver, shop and information. Café in adjacent Cathedral Centre. During services and concerts access within the church may be limited.

In the north tower of the cathedral there is a museum - the Treasury. The Treasury has an excellent collection of medieval textiles. Many of them are from the 15th century, but there are also some from the 13th century.
Other things you can see are the cloths worn by Svante, Nils and Erik Sture when they were murdered 1567 by king Erik XIV at Uppsala Castle.
Things have also been taken up from the royal tombs. You can see the funeral regalia of some kings and queens, crowns, Gustav Vasa's sword etc.
The cup in the picture is made in Germany in the beginning of the 16th century but came to Sweden during the Thirty Years War.

Entrance fee is 30 kr.

Big suprise!! - especially for Polish tourists. In Uppsala Cathedral (in one of chapels) you can find historic panorama of previous Polish capital city - Krakow. This is because one of Polish queens - Catherine Jagiellon was the wife of Swedish king John III.

She was the youngest daughter of Poland's King Zygmunt I the Old and Bona from Italina family Sforza. Catherine was later the mother to the future King of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Sigismund III Vasa. Her and John III monumentel tombstone are also located in tUpsalla cathedral.

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Domkyrkan is rather esteemed in Sweden temple. The relics connected with Sacred Erik, the patron of Sweden including his gilt tomb are stored there.
Sacred Erik's gold crown is just above a tomb.

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Many outstanding Swedes are buried in the Cathedral.

Among them - Gustav Vasa with both spouses, the philosopher Emmanuel Swedenborg, the scientist Charles Linney who studied in Uppsala (as well as Anders Zelsia, the inventor of a temperature scale).