Saint Eric's Cathedral is a Roman Catholic cathedral located on Södermalm. It was built in 1892 and was raised to the status of a cathedral in 1953, when the Roman Catholic Diocese of Stockholm was created (still the only one in Sweden). The substantial increase in the number of Catholics in Stockholm and Sweden, mostly as a result of immigration after World War II, made the old church insufficient, and an extension, designed by architects Hans Westman and Ylva Lenormand, was inaugurated in 1983, at the 200th anniversary of the re-establishment in 1783 of the Roman Catholic Church in Lutheran Sweden. The block where the cathedral is located also contains other functions serving the Roman Catholic Church in Sweden.
The church takes it name from Saint Eric, the 12th century king of Sweden who, having been slain by a Danish prince, came to be regarded as a martyr and the patron saint of Stockholm, depicted in the seal and coat of arms of the city.
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.