Oscar's Church 2.97

Oscar's Church is one of the major churches in Stockholm, Sweden. The three-aisled hall church, which holds 1,200 people, has an 80m tower in the south-western part of the building. Oscar's Church is located in the south-eastern part of Östermalm, where Storgatan and Narvavägen meet, near the Swedish History Museum. Narvavägen is together with the nearby Strandvägen—from which the church is also visible—one of the city's main boulevards, lined with several residential palaces.HistoryThe church was inaugurated in September 1903 as the result of a design competition nine years earlier. The competition was won by Gustaf Hermansson, who also designed the Sofia Church. It was King Oscar II himself, after whom the church is named, who laid the foundation stone in 1897. Criticised from the start for its Gothic Revival style, it was originally meant to be partly clad in brick; this changed to a uniformly white façade, clad in limestone and marble. The construction work was delayed several times because of problems with the foundation, non-deliveries and labour strikes, which is why the church was not consecrated until 1903.