Fredrikstad Cathedral was designed by architect Ferdinand Waldemar Lühr to be a parish church. It was built between 1879 and 1880 in the Gothic style of brick, with a longitudinal plan in the form of a Latin cross. It has a single tower of 72 m in height at the western end, which is part of the main facade. It was consecrated on 13 October 1880, when it was known as Fredrikstad Vestre kirke.
The church was restored in 1954, was elevated to cathedral status in 1969, when it created the new Diocese of Borg, based in Fredrikstad. The stained glass is a work of Emanuel Vigeland, 1917, and the main altarpiece, a painting by Axel Revold. It has space for 1100 people.
References:The Church of St Donatus name refers to Donatus of Zadar, who began construction on this church in the 9th century and ended it on the northeastern part of the Roman forum. It is the largest Pre-Romanesque building in Croatia.
The beginning of the building of the church was placed to the second half of the 8th century, and it is supposed to have been completed in the 9th century. The Zadar bishop and diplomat Donat (8th and 9th centuries) is credited with the building of the church. He led the representations of the Dalmatian cities to Constantinople and Charles the Great, which is why this church bears slight resemblance to Charlemagne's court chapels, especially the one in Aachen, and also to the Basilica of San Vitale in Ravenna. It belongs to the Pre-Romanesque architectural period.
The circular church, formerly domed, is 27 m high and is characterised by simplicity and technical primitivism.