Odense settlements. The first church in Odense appears to have been St Mary's, probably built in the late 12th century. The territory, previously part of the vast Archbishopric of Hamburg, was created a Catholic diocese in 988. The first recorded bishops of Odense were Odinkar Hvide and Reginbert, who was consecrated by Archbishop Æthelnoth of Canterbury, in 1022. Recent excavations have shown that from the early 11th century, the town developed in the area around Albani Torv, Fisketorvet, Overgade and Vestergade. By 1070, Odense had already grown into a city of stature in Denmark. Canute IV of Denmark, generally considered to
Odense Stadium a long time before a stadium was constructed in the city of Odense. The sports facilities in Odense after World War I have been described as being overall "bad" even though sports facilities exited in Kræmmermarken and Odense Boldklub had its own sports facility. In the beginning of the 1920s, Aarhus and Aalborg inaugurated their own stadiums, which increased the local discussions regarding building a stadium in Odense, but a decision could not made in the first couple of years, partly due to the huge concerns by the dominating political party in the city council, Conservative People's Party. The stadium