Gardar Cathedral
The cathedral of Garðar ( Danish Garðar Domkirke ) in Igaliku is the ruin of the former cathedral church of the lost Roman Catholic diocese Garðar on Greenland . The diocese was re-established in 1996 as the titular diocese of Gardar .
history
In 1124, at the request of King Sigurd II. Arnaldur, the first bishop to join the Grænlendingar in Greenland was sent. He was consecrated by the Archbishop of Lund and arrived in Greenland in 1126, where he served as bishop for 24 years. Under his episcopate the construction of the Romanesque cathedral of Garðar began. Archaeological excavations in 1926 uncovered the foundations of the church that are still visible today.
The cathedral, dedicated to St. Nicholas of Myra , was built from local red sandstone . It was 27 meters long and 16 meters wide. The single nave nave was 13 meters wide. To the east of the nave was a square choir, with side chapels to the north and south. The cathedral was the only church in Greenland to have a cruciform floor plan. However, the east wall of the choir protruded only a little beyond the side chapels, so that more of the impression of a dew cross is created. The church of the Lysekloster in Norway has an almost identical floor plan. Here, too, the east wall of the choir protruded only a little beyond the side chapels. Only the nave of the church was longer than the one in Gardar.
Since the existence of two bronze bells has been proven, this finding suggests that the cathedral had a bell tower, which possibly rose above the choir as a choir tower . The tomb of a bishop was found in the north chapel, probably that of Jón Smyrill, who died in 1209. The bishop's ring and the crook of the bishop's staff were found as grave goods . The ruins of the bishop's house have been preserved south of the cathedral.
In 1377, Alfus, the last bishop to reside in Gardar, died. From 1377 to 1530 at least 18 clerics were appointed bishops of the diocese that had already fallen.
literature
- Jennifer Grayburn: Monasteries in the Archdiocese of Nidaros. Monasticism in Iceland Report. July 2015.
- Jess Angus McCullough: Death in a Dread Place: Belief, Practice, and Marginality in Norse Greenland, ca. 985-1450 . School of Archeology and Ancient History, University of Leicester 2016.
- Laurence M. Larson: The Church in North America (Greenland) in the Middle Ages . In: The Catholic Historical Review , Vol. 5, No. 2/3 (Jul - Oct 1919), pp. 175-194.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Catholic-hierarchy.org
- ↑ See floor plan in McCullough, p. 99
- ^ Grayburn, p. 16
Coordinates: 60 ° 59 ′ 14.2 " N , 45 ° 25 ′ 23.5" W.