Construction of the Cathedral of St Nicholas started in 1283. The Cathedral is build on a the site of a chapel of the Romanesque style which pre-dated the town's foundation in 1157. Construction was completed in around 1430 and the west tower was completed in 1490.
The church began life as a parish church. In 1512, the Church attained the rank of Collegiate Church with a provost (with mitre and crozier) dean, chanter and twelve canons.
In 1945 it became the Cathedral of the diocese of Lausanne , Geneva and Fribourg.
Since 1803, the Church has been the property of the state of Fribourg and services are administered by the Roman Catholic Church.
The Cathedral of St Nicholas represents three diferent periods of western art and architecture. The edifice of the building is from the Gothic period - as is the choir gate, the baptismal fonts, the pulpit, the cross, 'The Burial of Christ' and two sculptured portals.
The chevet, the choir arch with key-stones, coats of arms of Patrician families, decoration of the aisle archways, the organ of Sebald Manderscheidt and the six chapels between the butresses are from the Baroque period.
The organ of Aloys Mooser (1828/1834), the stained-glass windows of Jozef Mehoffer (1896/1936), the stained-glass windows of ALfred Manessier (1976/1988), the alta, ambon, the easter candlestick and the Episcopal seat of Georges Schneider (1981/1986) and the Millennium cross of Nuccio Fontanella (1999) all date from the modern period.
The Cathedral of St Nicholas has 13 bells - eleven of which are in the west tower and 2 are in the Bell Tower of the Choir.
Europe - Travel information from around Europe
New Zealand - A personal guide to things to do, see, eat and drink in New Zealand
Travel pictures - Pictures from my travels in Switzerland, Italy and New Zealand
France - Travel information on and about France
Eclipse chasing - Essential total eclipse trip planning information from 2010 to 2019
Taranaki pictures - A gallery of pictures from my travels in Taranaki
Auckland - Travel information on about Auckland
Berne - Information on and about Berne
Zähringen - Brief history of the Noble family of Zähringen
Switzerland pictures - Pictures from my travels in and around Switzerland
Mark Sukhija is a travel and wine blogger, photographer, tourism researcher, hat-touting, white-shirt-wearing, New Zealand fantatic and eclipse chaser. Aside from at least annual visits to New Zealand, Mark has seen eclipses in South Australia (2002), Libya (2006), China (2009) and Queensland (2012). After twelve years in Switzerland, Mark moved back to London in 2012. You can follow Mark on Twitter or Facebook