The Old Aker Church stands on Telthusbakken in the St. Hanshaugen borough of Oslo, surrounded by an old graveyard and a stone wall. It is believed to have been built by King Olav Kyrre in 1080, and it is the oldest surviving building in Oslo. It is a three-naved Romanesque basilica of limestone. The site may have been used for a regional assembly in pre-Christian times, and the church stands over the Akersberg silver mine.
The church was repeatedly plundered and damaged by fire. A lightning strike in 1703 destroyed the tower, bells and the entire interior. Heinrich Ernst Schirmer and Wilhelm von Hanno restored the exterior in 1861, and the interior was restored from 1950 to 1955. The pulpit and baptismal font date from 1715.
On 19 April 1940 Queen Maud's coffin was secretly moved to the church during the German occupation, and it remained in the crypt until 1949.
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