Roskilde Cathedral

Why it is renowned

Roskilde Cathedral has been on the UNESCO World Heritage List since 1995.¹ Built in the 12th and 13th centuries, it was the first Gothic cathedral in Scandinavia to be built of brick, and it spread the style across northern Europe.² It has been the burial church of the Danish royal family since the 15th century; since the Reformation all Danish kings and queens but one lie here, and their tombs trace the history of European funerary art.² More than 165,000 people visit it each year.¹

The story

Harald Bluetooth built a small wooden church dedicated to the Holy Trinity at Roskilde and was buried there after his death in 985 or 986.¹ Bishop Absalon began the brick cathedral around 1170; it was started in Romanesque form, and halfway through the plan changed to the new Gothic style from France.²¹ The choir was inaugurated in 1225 and the building was complete, apart from the west towers, by 1280.¹ Kings then added chapels and porches, each in the style of its time: Christian I's Chapel of the Magi with frescoes from the 1460s, Christian IV's Dutch Renaissance chapel begun in 1614, and the twin spires of 1633.¹ Queen Margrethe I was brought here in 1413, and in 2018 the future tomb of Margrethe II, designed by Bjørn Nørgaard, was placed in the chapel of St Brigitte.¹ It is still a working church, with its own boys' choir.³

What to know it by

• Chapel of the Magi1459Christian I's burial chapel, with frescoes from the 1460s
• Christian IV's Chapel1614Lorenz van SteenwinckelDutch Renaissance burial chapel in red brick
• Sarcophagus of Margrethe IQueen Margrethe I, brought here from Sorø in 1413
• The twin spires1633The west spires, a gift of Christian IV