One of the central exhibits of the Medieval Park, which is located in the Gamle-Oslo district, is the ancient ruins of St. Mary's Church. The church was highly venerated and respected, and its rector in 1314 was even the Chancellor of Norway.
The construction of St. Mary's Church took place in several stages from 1050 until the beginning of the XIII century. In the XII century, the very first building was rebuilt, a tower was added, and a hundred years later the area of the structure was expanded once again by adding another tower.
King Haakon V was buried here in 1319, and a little later his wife, Queen Euphemia, was laid to rest beside him. Confirmation of this is provided by a gravestone on which is inscribed, “King Haakon V was buried in this place on 8 May 1319.”
In 1523, Swedish troops unceremoniously set the church on fire, and in this half-burned and half-ruined state it remained until 1542, when the decision was made not to restore the building, but simply to demolish it.
The first excavations took place here in 1867 under the direction of the famous archaeologist Nicolay Nicolaysen, and in the 1960s the excavations were carried out by the well-known specialist in church architecture, Hakon Christie. As a result, the remains of the royal family - Haakon V and Euphemia - were found and reburied in the royal mausoleum at Akershus Castle.
