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Construction of the Chiesa dei Cappuccini or Church of the Capuchin Monks began in the 12th century and was only completed by the early 14th century. The façade with a local stone base, and brick superior zone has a portal with multiple columns and a fresco in the lunette from the 17th century. In 1623 the Cappuccini (a Franciscan order) were assigned to this church. They erected an adjacent convent, and remained here until suppressed by the Napoleonic government in 1802.
The Capuchin order returned and reconsecrated the church in 1903. During restorations in the 1971, a large fresco was found in the apse, depicting the Annunciation. The work is attributed to two friars, Franceschino and Manfredino Baxilio, and dated to 1484. Of the fresco, only the Virgin remains. The apse maintains the baroque wooden altar with a painting of the Madonna della Neve, St Francis and St Lawrence of Brindisi. In the left nave is a canvas by Guglielmo Caccia, detto il Moncalvo, and in the right nave is a Madonna with St Felice da Cantalice, attributed to a son of Moncalvo.
References:The stone church of Gamla Uppsala, built over the pagan temple, dates from the early 12th century. Due to fire and renovations, the present church is only a remnant of the original cathedral.
Before the arrival of Christianity in Sweden, Gamla Uppsala was the seat of Swedish kings and a ceremonial site known all over northern Europe. The settlement was home to royal palaces, a royal burial ground, and a great pagan temple. The Uppsala temple, which was described in detail by Adam of Bremen in the 1070s, housed wooden statues of the Norse gods Odin, Thor and Freyr. A golden chain hung across its gables and the inside was richly decorated with gold. The temple had priests, who sacrificed to the gods according to the needs of the people.
The first Christian cathedral was probably built in the 11th century, but finished in the 12th century. The stone building may have been preceded by a wooden church and probably by the large pagan temple.