3-053-703 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Trondhjem Cathedral, 1873. 'In our account last week of the Norwegian Coronation of King Oscar II., King of Sweden and Norway, there was some description of the ancient Cathedral at Trondhjem, or Drontheim, where the ceremony was performed. We engrave a view of that fine old church, built mostly in the thirteenth century, but sadly mutilated and deprived of some essential features, as an architectural whole, by the havoc of successive fires. It is contributed by Mr. W. B. Thelwall, an artist whose drawings of Norwegian scenery have been exhibited in the Haymarket'. Work on the cathedral as a memorial to St. Olav started in 1070. It was finished some time around 1300, nearly 150 years after being established as the cathedral of the diocese. The cathedral was badly damaged by fires in 1327 and again in 1531. The nave was destroyed and was not rebuilt until the restoration in early 1900s. In 1708, the church burned down completely except for the stone walls. It was struck by lightning in 1719, and was again ravaged by fire. Major rebuilding and restoration of the cathedral started in 1869. From "Illustrated London News", 1873.