St Canute's Cathedral, Odense

Fyn, Odense · Danmark · Church

The monks dug secret tunnels to the nuns on Nonnebakken — and legend says none of them has found rest in the grave since.

Beneath St Canute's Church in Odense lie the shrines holding the murdered king's bones, but it is the monastery above ground that carries the legend. For generations Odense has told of the secret underground passages the monks are said to have dug from St Canute's Priory across to the nuns' convent on Nonnebakken — tunnels for love, hatred, revenge and murder — and it is said that all that strife is the reason the monks and nuns have never found rest in their graves but walk again in the cloisters. The king himself died here. On 10 July 1086 Canute the Holy fled into St Alban's Church to escape the rebels, and according to the legend he was killed by a spear while kneeling in prayer at the altar, together with his brother Benedict and seventeen housecarls. Miracles were soon rumoured at the grave, and in 1100 he was canonised, the only Danish king to be so.

FAQ

Hvor ligger St Canute's Cathedral, Odense?

St Canute's Cathedral, Odense ligger i Fyn, Odense, Danmark.