Skip to main content

Description

Professor Schyttes gate, Bodø
Bodø Cathedral has a monumental form and location in the Bodø town centre. The town centre area includes the shoreline and an incline that ascends relatively steeply up to a new plain roughly 20 metres above the sea. The church lies on the brink between the slope and the upper flat plain. This complex occupies an entire block. The new church, which also has a park, is situated in the same place as the previous church that burned during the bombing of Bodø in 1940.

An architecture competition was held in order to design the new church in 1946 and the architects Gudolf Blakstad (1893-1985) and Herman Munthe-Kaas (1890-1977) won with their design proposal titled "Kathedral". For the most part the final solution was ready with the winning proposal. The cornerstones were laid in 1954 and the consecration took place in 1956. Since this time the complex has served as a cathedral for the Southern-Hålogaland diocese. The building is characterised by modern materials from the 1950s, such as concrete and thin plastered surfaces. Perhaps the most characteristic aspect of this church is the open-worked freestanding clock tower and the Basilica form that has five naves. Bodø Cathedral was declared a listed building in 2002. Both the building's exterior and interior are listed, as well as the clock tower, office wing, and the entire surrounding green area, which is bordered by the streets situated around the block.

Year of construction

1954-1956

Architect

Gudolf Blakstad and Herman Munthe-Kaas Arkitektkontor AS

Client

Bodø Municipality

Building Type

Church
village hall

Construction System / Materials

Concrete

Keywords

church
concrete
belfry
reconstruction architecture

Literature

Byggekunst 3-4/1947 pp. 38-40.

Byggekunst 8/1956 pp. 217-224.

Jakhelln, Gisle (and others) (ed.). -byen vårres - vandring i Bodø. Bodø 2004.

Kristoffersen, Sigrid Fløttum: Bodø domkirke - et monumentalbygg fra gjenreisingstiden. Thesis in art history, University of Bergen 1990.

Map

Bodø domkirke
Bodø domkirke
Bodø domkirke
Bodø domkirke
Bodø domkirke
Bodø domkirke
Bodø domkirke