[1] Originally, in the early Viking settlement, the area of present-day Bispetorv was a pagan burial site, and like today, right in the center of town.

[2] After the reformation in Denmark the chapter house was turned into the home of the bishop with a large garden and wall facing the street of Kannikegade, immediately south of Bispetorv.

In 1881, Aarhus Municipality bought the bishop's house and demolished it in order to create a public space and give the cathedral "room to breathe".

The contest was won by the landscaping company Schønherr which in the following years transformed the square from a parking lot to a public space with trees and greenery.

Bispetorv has been excavated by archaeologists from Moesgård Museum several times and during a dig in the 1960s many notable artifacts from the Viking Age was uncovered.