Roskilde Cathedral

We will probably never know whether it was actually Harald Bluetooth who built the first wooden church where Roskilde Cathedral stands today. According to the written sources, the first stone church was built by King Svend Estridsen’s mother Estrid after 1026, but no archaeological evidence for this has ever been found, so the texts may be referring to St. Jørgensbjerg Church. But there’s no doubt that the remains of Svend Estridsen were found in the limestone cathedral of 1080, most recently when Queen Margrethe II’s future burial chapel was excavated in 2013 by archaeologists from the National Museum. This was the first excavation inside Roskilde Cathedral for more than 60 years. St. Birgitte’s Chapel, where the queen will one day be put to rest, was built in the latter half of the 1400s in a section of the cathedral area that was previously a cemetery. Archaeologists found the skeletons of former Roskilde citizens or priests, but none of them could be dated to the 1000s with certainty. Today Roskilde Cathedral presents as a large Gothic brick cathedral begun about 1170. The cathedral serves as a royal burial site for more than 35 kings and queens. The cathedral is one of the earliest examples of Gothic brick architecture and has been listed as a UNESCO world heritage site. In the middle ages the raised choir was the most sacred place in the church. It was here the cathedral’s founders were entombed – Harald Bluetooth, Estrid, her son Svend Estridsen and Bishop Vilhelm. Relics were also stored here. Harold’s grave is now empty, but William’s grave holds two skeletons, one of which has a war injury from an arrow. According to Saxo, Harald was killed by an arrow when he went into the woods to relieve himself. So perhaps Harald accidentally ended up with Vilhelm? But Saxo says it’s not Harald, and for once historians are inclined to agree with him. Thus we don’t know where Harald was buried.