The Marble Church

The Marble Church (Marmorkirken or Frederiks Kirke) is easy to be spotted because of its outstanding green copper dome. It lies near the Amalienborg castle, which is the official residence of the Danish queen and her family. Nowadays the church is serving as a popular wedding site and touristic attraction, and belongs to the Danish Evangelical Lutheran Church.

The original plan of the church.
Source: http://marmorkirken.dk/index.php?page=galleri

Facts

• Built: 1754-1894
• Height: 46 meters
• Address: Frederiksgade 4
• Telephone: +45 3315 0144
• Website: www.marmorkirken.dk
• Entrance fee: DKK 35 (Adults), DKK 20 (Students and youth under 18)

Marble?

Most of the church is constructed of Norwegian marble, however, the upper parts are built from different materials (For example Danish faxe marble). This is because the original plan turned out to be too expensive to carry out, hence they had to cut the amount of costly Norwegian marble.

Architecture

According to the original plans the Marble church was erected to honour the anniversary of the Danish royal family's (the Oldenburg dynasty) 300 years reign. Initially Nicolai Eigtved made the plans (see on the upper picture) in 1740 in rococo style. Nine years after King Frederik himself laid the foundation stone. When Eigtved died in 1754 the plans for the church were modified by Nicolas Henri Jardin, a French architect. The constructions was stopped because of budgetary reasons, and only finished in 1894.

The completed church.
Source: http://marmorkirken.dk/index.php?page=galleri

One of  the largest...

The dome has a majestic 46 metres high. There are 12 pillars that carry the dome.  The diameter of  the dome is 31 metres, which makes this dome one of the largest domes in Europe, and the larges church in Denmark.

Interesting

The construction was stopped for years because of lack of funding. Finally, it was a rich financier C.F. Tietgen (founder of the Tuborg brewery)  who donated money to complete the construction. 

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