Travel // Going Around // Europe // Kristiansand Cathedral
This is Kristiansand Cathedral, an open church in the city center. Literally, it is one of the few places in the city center that is opened today as most shops, restaurants, bars and businesses are normally closed on Sundays. Mc Donald’s and 7 Eleven convenience shop are of course opened as expected. Walking around the city center today seems like I was walking in an abandoned neighborhood. But on the other hand, the stillness of the place made Kristiansand at least a very peaceful place to walk around – traffic free – at least for today. By the way, Kristiansand is a capital city and a seaport in southern coast of Norway.
I spent about half an hour in front of this 18th century old cathedral giving out what I can do to capture the best angle. The ‘best angle’ from a professional photographer’s point of view could be entirely different to that of an amateur one like me, so my ‘best’ could be simply fine or ‘worst’ perhaps...LOL... This neo-gothic style cathedral is a dominating structure in Kristiansand and almost in most areas in the city center, the church’s 70-meter high tower can be visible. So, for first time visitors in Kristiansand, the church can be a very important marker just in case you get lost and confused about which way to go or turn around. The cathedral is 60 meters long and 38.8 meters wide and is one of Norway’s largest church buildings.
Actually, this is not the first church erected on this site. The first one was erected soon after the foundation of Kristiansand in 1641. The first cathedral was destroyed by fire in 1734 resulted to the construction of another cathedral on the same spot which was completed in 1738. For the second time fire destroyed the cathedral in 1880. The church was then rebuilt and was consecrated in 1885. At present, this neo-gothic style cathedral standing today is the central church in Kristiansand and aside from its normal and regular worship services; the church also holds large events.
