Linkoping Cathedral

Building started around 1230 and went on until the early sixteenth century, which is why the cathedral changes style as you walk east: Romanesque at the base, then French-influenced Gothic in the choir, with the whole thing in pale limestone quarried nearby. It is among the largest medieval churches in the country, over a hundred metres long, and the spire that gives it its outline is a nineteenth-century replacement by Helgo Zettervall, who restored heavily in the taste of his time. The carved portals on the south side are the best medieval work on the exterior. The cathedral park around it is open and used as a town green.

What you actually see

• Three centuries of building - Romanesque running into Gothic.
• Pale local limestone - the whole fabric.
• Zettervall's nineteenth-century spire - the outline it is known by.
• Carved south portals - the best medieval work outside.

When to go

Year round. An hour.

Honest expectations

Services and concerts close it. Zettervall's restoration replaced a good deal of medieval detail. The interior is light but plain. Tower access is not offered.

Nearby

Gamla Linkoping open-air museum is west; Kinda canal runs south.