Roskilde Cathedral

Roskilde. Medieval cathedral and modern mausoleum

The Roskilde Cathedral is the main cathedral of Denmark , the tomb of the Danish kings. A bright example of brick Gothic . Unesco listed in 1995 as a World Heritage Site .

Already at the beginning of the Middle Ages, the cathedral was one of the most famous churches in Denmark and served as the cathedral of the diocese of the island of Zealand, and since 1923 - the diocese of Roskilde.

The modern cathedral was preceded by at least two churches. The first of them, built by Harald Sinezub , was wooden, but in the XI century it was successively replaced by one or two stone from travertine . Around 1080, the church was a three-nave basilica built by Bishop Sven Nurdman .

In 1170, Bishop Absalon began the construction of a brick church in the Romanesque style with a long and wide transverse nave, but later Bishop Peter Suneson changed the design of the cathedral in the style of French Gothic. The existing church was completed in 1280 , but since then, every century has made changes in its appearance and interior decoration.

Before the Reformation , which began in Denmark in 1536 , the cathedral was Catholic, having, in addition to the main altar, several others, including in the attached chapels.

After the Reformation, the side altars were removed. Since that time, all Danish kings and almost all Danish queens have been buried in the cathedral and the royal chapels attached to it. The cathedral also has several burials dating back to the Middle Ages . The most revered of them is the sarcophagus of Queen Margrethe of Denmark . In total, the cathedral has 39 burials. By the will of the last king Frederick IX and his wife Ingrid, a mausoleum was erected for them outside the walls of the cathedral.