The Stockholm Cathedral, also
known as Storkyrkan (The Great Church), is dedicated to St Nicholas, being the
main church of the Diocese of Stockholm, Church of Sweden (Lutheran). The
church is located in the Old Town (Gamla Stan) right next to the Royal Palace.
The exterior and interior of the church are a mix of Gothic, Baroque and
Medieval styles. Through this mixture of styles the expansion of the church
building is evident, since the 13th century.
Stockholm’s medieval Cathedral,
built in 1279, houses unique objects such as the St George and the Dragon
sculpture (1489), the legendary Vadersoltavlan (1535) and Lena Lervik’s
sculpture ‘Joseph and Mary’ (2002).
Since 1527, the Cathedral has
been a Lutheran church. A wide range of religious services and concerts are
held. The wedding of T.R.H. Crown Victoria and Prince Daniel took place in 2010
in Stockholm Cathedral.
The statue of St George and the
Dragon is work mentioning further, due to its prominent size and place within
the Cathedral. It was unveiled in 1489 as an altar monument for the shrine to
St George. Its commissioner, Sten Sture the Elder, had put to flight the forces
of King Christian of Denmark, thereby rescuing Stockholm from the Danish
invaders. The legend of St George and the Dragon tells of a terrible dragon
that demanded human offerings from the town of Selene as its price for not
laying waste to the town. The day the King’s daughter is to be sacrificed, St
George comes riding by. On condition that the town’s heathen inhabitants
convert to Christianity, he slays the dragon. In St George it may be that Sten
Sture saw himself as the knight who conquered the Danish ‘dragon’, thereby
saving the princess, i.e. Stockholm. For people today, this imposing monument provides
inspiration to take up the struggle against evil – wherever it might appear.
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