Storkyrkan

About the church

Storkyrkan or Sankt Nicolai kyrka is a church building between the Royal Palace and Stortorget in the Gamla stan district of Stockholm. It is the cathedral of the Diocese of Stockholm and the parish church of Stockholms domkyrkoförsamling (Stockholm Cathedral Parish) within the Church of Sweden.

According to tradition, the first church was built in 1264 thanks to gifts from Birger jarl. It was then Stockholm's only parish church and was called bykyrkan (the town church). During the 14th and 15th centuries the church was extended into a five-aisled brick hall church. The Gothic idiom of the interior has been preserved, and among the decoration the medieval sculptural group Saint George and the Dragon and the early modern painting the Sun Dog Painting (Vädersolstavlan) stand out. The façade was given a new design in Baroque style in the 1730s, when the buttresses were shaped as lesenes with banded rustication, a heavy cornice was added and the west tower was fitted with corner quoins, pediments and a lantern.

Since the 14th century Storkyrkan has been used for royal coronations, state ceremonies and as the plenary hall of the clergy estate during the Riksdag of the Estates. Since the 19th century the opening of the Riksdag session has begun with a service in Storkyrkan.

The text has been translated from the article Storkyrkan on Swedish Wikipedia and may be used under CC BY-SA 4.0.