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| 0526 Uppsala Cathedral |
Posted 25.02.2013, 13.07.2015
Situated at 67 km north of Stockholm, on a fertile flatland, Uppsala is better known for its university, the oldest centre of higher education in Scandinavia and one of the most prestigious institutions of this kind in Europe. But only few know that Uppsala was also the main pagan centre of Sweden, and since 1164 it became the ecclesiastical centre of the country. It was originally located a few kilometres to the north, at a location now known as Gamla Uppsala (Old Uppsala), today's Uppsala being then called Östra Aros. In 1274, Östra Aros overtook Gamla Uppsala as the main regional centre, and when the cathedral of Gamla Uppsala burnt down, the archbishopric was moved to Östra Aros, where was erected the impressive Uppsala Domkyrka (Uppsala Cathedral), one of the largest in northern Europe.
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| 1739 Gustav Vasa's sepulcre in Upssala Cathedral |
Inaugurated in 1435, this Gothic church was of course Roman Catholic (dedicated to Saint Lawrence, highly cherished in Sweden, to Saint Eric, the patron of Sweden, and to Saint Olaf, the patron of Norway), but since the Protestant Reformation, it has been controlled by the Lutheran Church of Sweden. Between 1885 and 1893 the architect Helgo Zettervall oversaw the restoration of the cathedral, intending a French Gothic revival appearance, popular in the late 19th century. It was the coronation church for many of Sweden's kings and queens, until the end of the 17th century, and also a number of kings and notable people were buried there, as Eric the Saint, King Gustav Vasa (1498-1560) and his three wives, John III and his wife, or the world-renowned botanist Carolus Linnaeus.
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