The Katarina church is one of Sweden's great baroque churches, and the country's first cruciform…read moredome church. Located in the suburb of Södermalm, on the cliffs just to the south of the city centre, this impressive landmark church is also a centre for music and the arts.
A chapel was first established on the site in the 1330s. A new chapel was erected on the site in 1588 by the Johann III. This commemorated Sten Sture, one of the members of the aristocracy and former regent. His body was exhumed and mutilated during the excavations carried out by the joint monarch of Denmark, Norway and (briefly) Sweden, Christian II, during what is known as the Stockholm Bloodbath.
In due course, as the suburb of Södermalm developed, its parish was subdivided, and the Katerina parish was established in 1654, named after the mother of Karl X Gustav. Construction of the church began in 1656, to the designs of Jean de la Valleé. He chose a Greek Cross plan, topped with a huge dome. It was the location of a series of notorious witch trials in the 1670s, when 14 people were executed on the testimony of children. This church was destroyed by fire in 1723, and restoration took place in stages between 1734 and 1784.
This church stood until 1990, when another fire took hold, thought to have been started by an electrical fault. This destroyed the interior and the dome, but the exterior walls and transeptal towers survived. Restoration was completed by 1995, in the style of the church of 1784.
The interior is spacious and filled with light. Two artefacts survive from the original church: a crucifix, dating to 1450, thought to have been from the Sture Chapel; and a very fine brass chandelier, dating to 1734. A new organ was installed, with a facade matching that of the original by Jean Eric Rehn's original of 1763. It also contains a number of modern art works, including an altar portal by Liss Eriksson, a cross by Claes Terras, a crown of thorns by Gunnar Hillgren and canvas by textile artist Kajsa Melanton.
As well as regular Sunday services, the church is open most days for visits and also hosts regular concerts (for which the acoustics are excellent).