St. Mary's Church, Bergen

Saint Mary's Church is a long stone church probably built between 1130 and 1170. The church is still used today and seats about 330 people. It is definitely the oldest surviving building in the city of Bergen.

Saint Mary's is the only survivor of the 12 churches and three monasteries built in Bergen between the city's foundation and the end of the 12th century. They were not all built during the reign of Olav Kyrre; Saint Mary's itself was constructed several decades after his death. The church may have been built by craftsmen familiar with the architecture of Scania, then part of Denmark, and its Romanesque style shows similarities to Lund Cathedral in Scania.

The church was originally the main church for the citizens of medieval Bergen, but in 1408 it became the official church of the German merchants at Bryggen. It was locally known as the “German Church” and served the Hanseatic community for centuries. While associated with the German merchants, Saint Mary's prospered and acquired a particularly rich collection of furnishings and religious art, much of it donated by Hanseatic merchants. It did not become an ordinary Norwegian parish church until 1874.

Today, Saint Mary's remains part of the Church of Norway. The church has two towers and three naves and is mostly Romanesque in style. The choir, which was extended after the fire of 1248, is Gothic. The main building material is soapstone, obtained from several quarries in western Norway, including Bømlo. Different types of stone were also introduced during later rebuilding and restoration work.