Welcome to the NCR 2025 Get-Together

Wednesday 21st May from 17:30 – 22:00 City Walk, Nidaros Cathedral & the Archbishop Palace

Join us for a spectacular evening at the Nidaros Cathedral and the Archbishop`s Palace, both playing an important role in Norway`s history.

City Walk 17:30-18:45

Why not get a glimse of our lovely city Trondheim while you are here?

We have organised an optional “city walk” on our way to the Nidaros Cathedral with departure from our main hotel, Clarion Hotel, departure at 17:30 hrs. We will end up at the Cathedral around 18:45 hrs.

The City Walk activity/sightseeing will include one of our professional guides. Important to advise correct language.
Your choice is either Norwegian or English. We will organise max. 20 persons in each group with different itineraries.
Which group you will be allocated to will be advised together with “Practical Information” approx. 1 week before the congress.

Another choice is public transport to get from your hotel to the Nidaros Cathedral, bus number 23 og 28, approx. 16 min. to final destination.

Arrangement in the Nidaros Cathedral 19:00-19:30. We then continue to the Archbishops`s Palace, next door for our Get-Together 19:30-22:00.

Nidaros Cathedral 19:00-19:30

In the heart of Trondheim you will find one av the city`s most important attractions, the Nidaros Cathedral, an ornate Gothic masterpiece. Norway’s national shrine and northern Europe’s most important pilgrimage site filled with history and facts about the cathedral`s 850-year history. The cathedral is built over the tomb of Olav the Holy, the Viking king who christianised Norway
and became the entire country’s eternal king.

In the Middle Ages, a silver coffin with Olav’s remains was placed on the high altar of the church. During the Reformation, the coffin was sent to Denmark to be melted into silver coins, and Olav’s remains were buried in a secret place in the cathedral. To this day, no one knows exactly where the remains are located.

Nidaros Cathedral has been known as the “Dark Cathedral”. The dark soapstone and dark stained-glass windows, combined with old-fashioned and inadequate lighting, has made the cathedral appear very dark inside. Thanks to contributions from various public and private donors, the Cathedral has now received lighting that highlights the cathedral’s stunning art and architecture.

The restoration of the Nidaros Cathedral

Construction began in 1070, and the cathedral was completed around 1300. After several fires and lack of maintenance in the Middle Ages, the cathedral was in a miserable state. In 1869, extensive restoration work began, and for the past 12 years restoring the Royal Entrance has been a priority, finally finished in 2022.

The Royal Entrance was built in the middle of the 13th century. Gerhard Schønning was the one who first called the portal Kongeinngangen. This was due to the fact that it was facing the king’s court (the Archbishop’s Palace) and this was exceedingly stately.
Since 2011, the entire portal has been dismantled, stone by stone, and rebuilt. Around 30 craftsmen, historians and conservators from “Bygghytta” at Nidaros Cathedral have been involved in the project.

The completion of the Royal Entrance was a major milestone in the restoration work at Nidaros Cathedral.
Today the cathedral is at its most magnificent.

The Archbishop`s Palace 19:30-22:00

Side by side with Nidaros Cathedral is the Archbishop’s Palace.

For more than 800 years, the Archbishop’s Palace has been a meeting place for powerful men and an arena for important meetings and grand parties.
Today we are gathered together in this beautiful building with friends and good colleagues to enjoy the NCR 2025 Get-Together.

The Palace is said to be the oldest profane (non-religious) stone building in all Nordic countries.
It has been the home of 27 archbishops. The archbishop of Nidaros was once the highest representative for the catholic church in Norway, Iceland, Greenland, Fareoe island, The Orkneys and Isle of Man.
He was extremely wealthy since people from all these countries had to pay tribute to the church.

The Archbishop lived in the north wing, which was the oldest part of the palace.
This is where he received his guests, collected taxes and held magnificent banquets.
At these banquets people were seated and served according to rank. The most important people sat closest to the Archbishop and were given the best meals. Those with the lowest rank were either served porridge or simply no food at all and had to watch others eat.

The palace has been destroyed several times.
The Christmas eve fire in 1295 was devastating, but the castle was rebuilt.
Severe damage was done to the castle when the Danish king threw the last archbishop, Olav Engelbrektson out of office in 1537.
He had to flee Norway and took the relics of St. Olavs shrine with him. It is said that the Danish king melted the holy shrine to get the gold and silver.

The last fire was August 1983. After this last fire there has been archeological excavations and restoration of buildings.
Today it is a modern museum. The Crown Jewels of Norway are kept here.

You need to sign up for all 3 activities under “Registration”.

MAP
Map of Trondheim with 3 locations - the conference venue, Nidaros Cathedral and the Archbishop's Palace - please click here.