Trondheim

Sister cities

• Graz
• Ramallah

History

Trondheim was named Kaupangen () by Viking King Olav Tryggvason in 997 CE. Shortly after that, it came to be called Nidaros. Initially, it was frequently used as a military retainer (Old Norse: "hird"-man) of King Olav I. It was also frequently used as the king's seat and was Norway's capital until 1217. People have lived in the area for thousands of years, as evidenced by the rock carvings in central Norway, the Nøstvet and Lihult cultures, and the Corded Ware culture. In ancient times, the kings of Norway were hailed in Trondheim at Øretinget, the place for the assembly of all free men by the mouth of the River Nidelva. Harald Fairhair (865–933) was hailed as the king here, as was his son, Haakon I, called 'the Good.' The battle of Kalvskinnet took place in Trondheim in 1179: King Sverre Sigurdsson and his Birkebeiner warriors were victorious against Erling Skakke (a rival to the throne). Some scholars believe that the famous Lewis chessmen, 12th-century chess pieces carved from walrus ivory that were found in the Hebrides and are now at the British Museum, may have been made in Trondheim. From 1152, Trondheim was the seat of the Archbishop of Nidaros for Norway, which operated from the Archbishop's Palace. Due to the introduction of Lutheran Protestantism in 1537, the last archbishop, Olav Engelbrektsson, had to flee from the city to the Netherlands; he died in what today is Lier, Belgium. From the 16th through the 19th centuries, the city was repeatedly ravaged by fires that caused widespread damage since many of its buildings were made of wood. The worst occurred in 1598, 1651, 1681, 1708, 1717 (twice), 1742, 1788, 1841 and 1842. The 1651 fire destroyed 90% of all buildings within the city limits. After the "Horneman Fire" in 1681, there was an almost total…

Geography

Trondheim is situated where the River Nidelva meets Trondheim Fjord with an excellent harbour and sheltered condition. In the Middle Ages the river was deep enough to be navigable by most boats. However, in the mid–17th century, an avalanche of mud and stones made it less navigable, and partly ruined the harbour. The municipality's highest elevation is the Storheia hill, above sea level. At the summer solstice, the sun rises at 03:00 and sets at 23:40, and then stays just below the horizon. Between 23 May and 19 July, when the sky is cloud-free, it remains light enough at night that no artificial lighting is needed outdoors. At the winter solstice, the sun rises at 10:01, stays very low above the horizon (at midday its altitude is slightly more than 3 degrees over the horizon), and sets at 14:31. Trondheim city has an oceanic climate (Cfb) or humid continental climate (Dfb), depending on the winter threshold used (−3°C or 0°C) and the location within the city. Winters are fairly cold and summers are mild. The part of the municipality further away from the fjord has slightly colder winters, while the part close to the fjord has the mildest winters. Trondheim is mostly sheltered from the strong south and southwesterly winds which can occur along the outer seaboard but is more exposed to northwesterly winds. As with the rest of Norway, the weather is dependent on the weather pattern. High pressure over Central Norway or to the east can last for weeks, while Atlantic Lows from the west also can dominate for weeks. Such stuck opposite weather patterns was evident in 2020, when May saw northwesterlies with cold air even bringing some snowfall, while the following June was warm and sunny. Trondheim experiences moderate snowfall from November to March, but mixed with mild…

Most-observed species

• Great Tit

  Parus major Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  18,787
• Eurasian Blue Tit

  Cyanistes caeruleus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  17,402
• Mallard

  Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  17,078
• Hooded Crow

  Corvus cornix Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  16,929
• Eurasian Magpie

  Pica pica (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  14,439
• Common Goldeneye

  Bucephala clangula (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  14,069
• Mew Gull

  Larus canus Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  13,997
• European Greenfinch

  Chloris chloris (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  13,830

Most recent

• M 2.7 — 2005-02-26
  21 km ENE of Sistranda, Norway
• M 2.6 — 2005-02-26
  19 km NW of Brekstad, Norway
• M 2.5 — 2005-02-26
  14 km W of Brekstad, Norway
• M 2.5 — 2005-02-26
  22 km NW of Brekstad, Norway