Gamlebyen Church is located in the Old Town district, or Gamle Oslo. When the city bore the name Christiania, this district was called Oslo, and the church was called Oslo Church.
In 1925, the capital of Norway changed the Danish-Swedish name Christiania to its original name, and to avoid confusion the word Gamle - "old" - was added to the district's name, and the church began to be called Gamlebyen Church - "Old Town Church".
The church is indeed very old, as are its surroundings. The current church building was built in 1796 on the foundation of a ruined Franciscan monastery, whose construction dates back to 1290. In the 16th century, the wave of the Protestant Reformation swept across Europe, and in 1536 Gamlebyen Church was turned into a hospital.
In 1567, the old church building was completely destroyed during an attack by the Swedes, and a hospital for soldiers was reopened in the surviving premises. Thus, the church building is considered the first hospital in Oslo. In 1734, the church was rebuilt on the foundation of the previous temple, then it burned in the fires of 1794, and was rebuilt again, this time out of brick; after that it was rebuilt and expanded several more times.
The last reconstruction was carried out by architect William Essendrop in 1939. He revived the building's medieval architecture to restore its original appearance. Today, Gamlebyen Church consists of a sanctuary with 200 seats and a square clock tower attached to the 1796 building.
