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WORLD AROUND US
The Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim, Norway (In Norwegian)
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Today’s
The World Around Us
will be presented in
Norwegian and English,
with subtitles in Arabic,
Aulacese (Vietnamese),
Chinese, English, French,
German, Norwegian,
Indonesian, Japanese,
Korean, Malay,
Persian, Portuguese,
Russian, Spanish
and Thai.
Welcome, loving viewers,
to The World Around Us.
Today, we will visit
the largest
medieval cathedral
in Northern Europe, the
Nidarosdomen Cathedral
in Norway.
In the western part of the
Scandinavian penninsula,
the Nidaros Cathedral
elegantly stands
as Norway’s
national sanctuary in
the charming, picturesque
city of Tromdheim.
The spectacular cathedral
was built in memorial
of Norway’s patron saint,
Olaf the Holy, who
lived from 995 to 1030.
Today, it is still the most
popular pilgrimage site
in northern Europe,
welcoming over
400,000 visitors from
around the world annually.
I believe
that people in Trondheim
are very proud
of the Nidaros Cathedral.
Some goes inside it
to use it or to participate,
while others only
look at it from the outside
and see that
it’s a part of the city.
I think that we are proud
of it because it’s a part
of the Norwegian identity,
and the identity
of the members
in the native church.
There are
many young people
walking to get here also,
groups of candidates
for confirmation
and school students,
who will get a taste
of walking a bit and
longing to get here and
be inside the Holy space;
that it’s actually
a special space.
In the Middle Ages this
was a Catholic Church.
Today
it’s a Protestant and
also Ecumenical church,
and twice on Sundays
there are services here.
At first a wooden chapel
located on the bank
of Nidelva River,
the Nidaros Cathedral
completed
its stone construction
from 1070 to 1300.
The main façade
at the west wall shows
the Jesus’ great sacrifice
on Earth, while above it,
Christ enthroned in glory
in Heaven.
Having been rebuilt
many times
over the centuries,
the cathedral
presents the visitors
an astonishing
architectural tapestry.
So here is a model
of the first stave church
that was built over
Olaf's grave around 1035.
The next model shows
the early Norman church,
the first stone building
that was built here in 1070.
The cathedral was built
between 1070 and 1320,
and here is a model
that shows what we think
it looked like around 1320.
We do not know really
how high
the west towers were,
but, yes, the rest we know
quite much about.
Reformation came
to Norway in 1537,
and just before
the Reformation,
there was a large fire.
Around, 1700.
But then the cathedral
was restored after 1869,
and most of the cathedral
was completed
100 years later.
The main reason
of the restorations
and pilgrimages is the
dedication to Saint Olaf,
who was Norway’s heroic
King Olaf Haraldsson
from 1015 to 1028,
is buried in the vicinity.
This has made
the Nidaros Cathedral
a sacred site.
Olaf was born in
the year 995 and he was
a Viking, a good Viking
it’s been said,
strong and brave
and a good athlete.
He was 12 years old
when he went abroad
on his first Viking tour,
and at 19 years old
he was baptized
in Rouen in France.
Olaf became convinced
that Christianity was
the right religion, and
he went back to Norway,
became King, and
started bringing people
to Christianity.
The interior of the cathedral
is an uplifting joy.
Entering the cathedral,
one can immediately feel
the sacred atmosphere.
The main hall is spacious
and open, with a hundred
some elegant pillars that
support the high vault,
sublime arches.
The statue of Jesus
appears near the top
of the central arch.
When visitors
enter through the door
of Nidaros Cathedral,
they almost always
become very quiet,
because the atmosphere
in this building
is quite special.
And many of the visitors
like to walk up
in front of the high altar
and then sit down
at one chair and have
a quiet and peaceful time.
Very often
we have to remind people
of the steps here because
they keep looking
upwards, because
of the tremendous height
of this cathedral.
Walking around, we can
find traces of history
everywhere, embedded in
layers of reconstructions
during the medieval
and modern times.
Yet they all have
the same motif
of the life of Jesus Christ.
There used to be
a baptismal font here in
the Middle Ages as well.
It’s lost, but
the foot piece remains,
and that’s this part,
up to here.
So they actually
made a copy of
the medieval foot piece,
and then they put
a modern part on top of it.
Jesus being baptized
by Saint John.
While Saint John
is pouring water over
his head, you can see
God’s finger pointing
out of the sky telling that,
“This is My Son,
Jesus Christ.”
And there’s an angel
watching it.
The main altar is ornate
and seems
to be illuminated.
The altar that you see
today is from 1882
and gift from Oscar II
who was crowned here.
And it’s inspired
from the descriptions of
how Olaf’s shrine looked
in the Middle Ages.
We think that his shrine
was decorated
with gemstones and silver
and maybe it also had
dragons on the sides.
And in fact we think of
the many shrines
over each other,
more and more decorated.
The octagon,
the shape of eight corners,
is also a central form
and this is often used
in tomb churches.
It was like that
in the Middle Ages
where they would
walk around the grave
to Olaf the Holy.
And some pilgrims
still do the same thing;
they would go
around the octagon and
feel like they’re a part
of something bigger, both
historically and spiritually.
We will be back soon
to continue our tour
of the marvelous
Nidaros Cathedral.
Please stay tuned
to Supreme Master
Television.
Welcome back to
The World Around Us.
The Nidaros Cathedral
in the city
of Trondheim, Norway
was the seat of Catholic
and Lutheran bishops.
Until 1906,
it was also the site where
kings were crowned.
Yet it began as a humble
stave church around 1035,
dedicated to Saint Olaf,
later known as the
national saint of Norway.
The altar of Saint Olaf
reveals the story of his life.
He is depicted
as a seed corn, which
symbolizes the saint’s
essence of growth
and transformation.
This altar front shows
motifs from Olaf’s legend.
This altar front also
shows the strong position
that Olaf had
in the Middle Ages,
because it’s combined with
the Evangelist symbols,
and that is mostly Christ
that we see in combination
with these symbols.
But here we find Olaf
in the middle.
It is not a total surprise
that precious
artistic pieces in this
historical pilgrimage site
had traveled far.
The icon on the wall
comes from Russia,
and it’s made
around the year 1500.
So it’s at least
500 years old, but maybe
even older than that.
And it’s a portrayal
of Christ.
The picture is called
“The Savior
with a Wet Beard.”
So you can see Christ
with a wet beard.
And it was being used
in the Russian
Orthodox Church.
And now
in Orthodox Churches,
people very often
touch icons, or kiss them,
in order to come
in contact with the saint.
It’s 500 years old,
still very pretty.
People say that
when they move around
the cathedral it feels like
Jesus is staring directly
at them, wherever they go.
One unforgettable sight
of the Nidaros Cathedral
is its huge, magnificent
stained glass piece,
the Rose Window.
This 1930 glass art work
decorates the western wall
of the cathedral, inviting
the afternoon sunlight to
brighten the entire interior. v
The rose window
is modern.
It’s a reconstruction and
it was finished in 1930,
so it’s quite new.
But we do believe that
there was a rose window
there in the Middle Ages
although we don’t know
what it looked like.
Now this rose window,
it has a diameter
of eight meters
but the entire window
is 12 meters tall
and it consists
of 10,000 pieces of glass.
And there is a red stone
in the middle.
It symbolizes Christ as
the center of Christianity
and red color spreading
outwards symbolizes how
Christianity is supposed
to spread into the world.
A very well-known feature
of the Nidaros Cathedral
is the musical experience
it offers.
The sounds from the
cathedral’s fantastic pair
of organs echoes
beautifully through
the vaults of cathedral.
The cathedral
has two historic organs.
The oldest one is the
Wagner organ from 1741,
a baroque organ.
And Johann Sebastian
Bach’s music is often
played on this organ.
The other organ
is the Steinmeyer organ
from 1930, with
more than 9,000 pipes.
At the organ meditations,
people like to come
and sit and listen
to the organ music and
it is also a short service.
There is also
a rich music life
in the Nidaros Cathedral.
Many people are
choir members and also
have played music here,
and it’s also a pleasure
to perform and attend
the activities inside
the Nidaros Cathedral.
In the Middle Ages
when visitors came here,
they often came by boat
up the river here,
and anchored up here.
And then the first place
that met them was the
archbishop’s residence,
and then the cathedral
that was placed behind
the archbishop's residence.
You can almost
call Trondheim
the religious capital
of Norway.
In 1997, the 640-km long
pilgrimage route
was opened.
It starts from
the ancient part of Oslo
and ends
at Nidaros Cathedral.
Called Saint Olaf’s Way
in Norwegian,
the route revitalized
a precious tradition.
I think people who are
pilgrims today experience
that they are following
an old tradition
from the Middle Ages, and
that is special in itself.
So I believe
that many people
seek out for pilgrimage
because they want
something different.
They want to retreat.
Something simple,
a little bit quiet,
get to know themselves
and to know God.
And then I think that
when they get here,
it’s like getting
to the destination part
of the pilgrimage.
It will seem very immense.
I also think
that it’s easier to enter
the Nidaros Cathedral
than many other churches
because it has a huge space
where you can
pick your own corner
where you can
hide yourself a little bit,
and some people
really appreciate that, to
be a little bit anonymous.
There is something
about the history
on the walls that
makes you feel a little
more humble and small.
I believe you can
find comfort in it,
and think that there is
something bigger.
I believe
the building symbolizes
that God is bigger,
and it is a part
of something bigger.
Noble viewers, thank you
for being with us on today’s
The World Around Us.
Please stay tuned
for Words of Wisdom,
coming up next,
after Noteworthy News,
here on
Supreme Master Television.
May peace and kindness
be with you always.
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