Holy Cross Priory, Dalby

Story

Holy Cross Abbey is an important Augustinian monastery located in Skåne's old capital, Dalby, then Denmark, now southern Sweden.HistoryThe Holy Cross Abbey of Dalby began its story as a Viking Age royal manor . The buildings along with a granite chapel were donated for the establishment of a Benedictine monastery during the reign of King Sweyn II of Denmark, who gifted the old manor on which the abbey was to be built and two and a half other rented properties to fund its construction. The old manor buildings were converted into the ranges of the monastery. In 1066 Bishop Henrik of Lund died and Bishop Egino of Dalby Diocese took his place. Plans had been made to build a cathedral complex at Dalby, but the pope instead combined the dioceses of Dalby and Lund. In addition, Bishop Egino became the first Archbishop of Lund, after Pope Alexander II decided that Denmark and the rest of Scandinavia should from that time forward be an independent archdiocese of the Catholic Church.King Sweyn II's son, King Harald III of Denmark, was buried in the church at Dalby in 1080, indicating its important status at the end of the Viking Era.A new expanded church was built of granite in the Romanesque style as a basilica dedicated to St Peter and given over to Augustinian canons. The building was further extended in the early 13th century with the addition of double towers, an extended west facade and two smaller towers flanked the new apse added onto the choir.