Viborg Cathedral

The Cathedral on Skt. Mogens Gade was built in the 12th century and rebuilt between 1864 and 1876 as a copy of the original Romanesque building of granite ashlar. Only the three-aisled crypt of the original was preserved. The new church, built of brick and Swedish granite, was modeled on some of the German cathedrals and the churches of Lund and Ribe. Its most distinctive features are the twin towers with their pyramidal roofs, visible from afar. A few Romanesque sculptured stones have been incorporated into the external walls, including the two lions flanking a window in the apse.

The interior is dominated by and famous for the Biblical wall-paintings which Joakim Skovgaard created between 1901 and 1906. In the side aisles are Old Testament scenes, in the transepts scenes from the life of Christ and in the choir the Resurrection and the Ascension. The ceiling paintings, in oil on mahogany, depict the Nativity, flanked by Moses and David and the Prophets. The altar is in gilt bronze.

The three-aisled Romanesque crypt has 12 bays of vaulting borne on six columns and 10 semi-columns with shafts of granite.