
St Mary's Church | Bergen
Twin-towered Romanesque soapstone church, begun in the twelfth century, the city's oldest building.
Location
About this audio guide
This guide to St Mary's Church in Bergen, the city's oldest surviving building, reads the walls rather than the saints. It follows the medieval masons of the eleven hundreds, the quarries around the fjords that fed them, and the town fires that forced them back to work. Best heard standing in front of the two west towers, before you walk round to the choir.
This audio guide was created using AI.
Similar places
Cathedral Vågsalmenningen
Twelfth-century stone church named for a True Cross relic, with a carved soapstone Renaissance portal.
Bergen Cathedral
Stone medieval church, rebuilt after many fires, with a naval cannonball lodged in its tower wall.
St. John's Church
Red-brick Gothic Revival church on a hilltop, crowned by the city's tallest tower and a carillon.
Lyse kloster ruiner
Ruined twelfth-century Cistercian abbey with chancel walls, priests' seats and a cloister arcade.
Fantoft Stave Church
Rebuilt medieval-style wooden stave church with dragon-headed gables, set in quiet pine woods.
Håkonshallen - Bymuseet i Bergen
Thirteenth-century royal stone banquet hall, still used for royal dinners and festival concerts.