Vor Frue Kirke,Church of Our Lady Cathedral, Neoclassical style building by architect Christian Frederik Hansen in , Denmark
Vor Frue Kirke,Church of Our Lady Cathedral, Neoclassical style building by architect Christian Frederik Hansen in The first church on this site was the Twelfth Century Collegiate Church of St. Mary. The Romanesque style church was destroyed by fire in 1314 and replaced with a Gothic Style red brick building. The Protestant Reformation was hard on St. Mary's. By royal decree, Roman Catholic and Lutheran priests were commanded to use the church jointly and this infuriated the Lutheran community. In 1530 hundreds of citizens stormed St. Mary's destroying the decorative church interior and St. Mary's was renamed the Church of Our Lady. Lightning strikes damaged the church in 1573 and 1585. The repaired mediaeval church was completely destroyed in 1728 and reconstructed ten years later to a similar plan. The new tower was taller and the bells from the former St. Nikolai Church were moved to the new spire in 1743. The Cathedral was destroyed during the Napoleonic Wars in 1807 when British demanded the surrender of the Danish Fleet and the city. During the ensuing battle British gunners used the tower of Our Lady Church for range practice and the church burnt down. Christian Frederik Hansen redesigned the cathedral in the Neo-Classical style with a pillared portico, a flat interior ceiling and simple classical lines. The church was completed in 1829. Bertel Thorvaldsen was commissioned to decorate the interior with statues of Jesus Christ and the apostles. Thorvaldsen donated the modern font as a personal gift. The 60 metre tower was based on the older medieval tower. The tower contains four bells. The 4 Ton "Stormklokken", cast in 1828 by Soren Hornhaver, is the heaviest bell in Denmark. The oldest bell in Denmark was cast in 1490 by Olug Kegge and was transferred to Our Lady Church from Antvorskov Kloster. A third bell was cast by Friderich Holtzmann in 1699 and the fourth was cast by Anker Heegaard in 1876. Our Lady Church was designated a Denmark's
Size: 5392px × 3595px
Location: Copenhagen, Denmark
Photo credit: © Eden Breitz / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: &, 1829, architect, architectural, architecture, building, capital, cathedral, central, centre, christian, church, city, colourful, copenhagen, country, denmark, dome, exterior, facade, frederik, frue, green, hansen, historic, indre, kirke, lady, neoclassical, nordic, plads, public, restaurants, scandinavia, scandinavian, square, style, vor
