St. Hallvard's Church and Monastery, Oslo, Norway

Standing: Must see
Rank: Rank 67 of 3,842

Reviewed by Elena Voss · Roavina Travel Editor

About St. Hallvard's Church and Monastery

St. Hallvard's Church and Monastery stands on Enerhaugen in eastern Oslo, not far from the site of the medieval St. Hallvard's Cathedral. It is the Catholic parish church for eastern Oslo and the largest current Catholic parish in Norway; Franciscans ran it until 1 September 2008. Designed by the architects Lund & Slaatto, the complex was completed in 1966, drew much attention in academic circles and won several architectural awards.

Checked 2026-11-05 · Source

What's inside

The building has three sections, the monastery, the parish offices and the church, arranged around a circular central nave, on three levels of brick and concrete left exposed inside and out. From outside it looks square, stern and introspective, but at its heart the church room is circular, set into the square monastery building. The church roof hangs down, so the ceiling is lowest where it would traditionally be highest. The sacrament is kept in the adjoining rectangular Santa Maria chapel.

Checked 2026-11-05 · Source

Place details and sources

Wheelchair access: Limited OpenStreetMap · Checked 2026-09-09
Building: Church OpenStreetMap · Checked 2026-09-09
Type of place: Place of worship OpenStreetMap · Checked 2026-09-09
Architectural style: brutalist architecture Wikidata · Checked 2026-09-09
Religion: Christian OpenStreetMap · Checked 2026-09-09
Denomination: Catholic OpenStreetMap · Checked 2026-09-09
Architect: Lund & Slaatto OpenStreetMap · Checked 2026-09-09
Architect: Lund + Slaatto Arkitekter Wikidata · Checked 2026-09-09
Wikipedia article: St. Hallvard's Church and Monastery Wikipedia · Checked 2026-09-09