Domus Anatomica was an

anatomical theatre An anatomical theatre (Latin: ) was a specialised building or room, resembling a theatre, used in teaching anatomy at early modern universities. They were typically constructed with a tiered structure surrounding a central table, allowing a lar ...

which existed from 1644 until 1728 in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

History

There are references to a modest ''lectorium medicorum'' in Copenhagen from 1605 but in 1621 the statutes of the university stressed that the construction of a proper

theatrum anatomicum An anatomical theatre (Latin: ) was a specialised building or room, resembling a theatre, used in teaching anatomy at early modern universities. They were typically constructed with a tiered structure surrounding a central table, allowing a lar ...

would be desirable. In 1639

Christian IV Christian IV (12 April 1577 – 28 February 1648) was King of Denmark and Norway and Duke of Holstein and Schleswig from 1588 until his death in 1648. His reign of 59 years, 330 days is the longest of Danish monarchs and Scandinavian monar ...

called

Simon Paulli Simon Paulli (6 April 1603 – 25 April 1680), was a Danish physician and naturalist. He was a professor of anatomy, surgery and botany at the University of Copenhagen. The genus ''Paullinia'' is named after him.

from

Rostock Rostock (), officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock (german: link=no, Hanse- und Universitätsstadt Rostock), is the largest city in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the state, c ...

, appointing him professor of anatomy, surgery and botany, and Paulli, in 1643, took the initiative of converting one of the university's buildings overlooking Church of Our Lady's graveyard (later

Frue Plads Frue Plads (literally "Square of (Our) Lady") is a public square located on the north side of the Church of Our Lady in central Copenhagen, Denmark. It occupies a rectangular space which is bounded on the other sides by University of Copenhagen's ...

) into the new Domus Anatomica. The new institution was completed the following year although Paulli did not hold his first public lecture until 3 March 1645. Another scholar associated with the institution was

Thomas Bartholin Thomas Bartholin (; Onomastic Latinizatio, Latinized as ''Thomas Bartholinus''; 20 October 1616 – 4 December 1680) was a Denmark, Danish physician, mathematician, and theology, theologian. He is best known for his work in the discovery of t ...

. He provides a detailed description of the building in his book ''Cista medica Hafniensis'' from 1662. After his return to

from

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

in 1681,

Niels Steensen Niels Steensen ( da, Niels Steensen; Latinized to ''Nicolaus Steno'' or ''Nicolaus Stenonius''; 1 January 1638 – 25 November 1686Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

disqualified him from a professorship; instead he had to make do with the title of Royal Anatomist. In 1674 he returned to Florence. The building was completely destroyed in the

Copenhagen Fire of 1728 The Copenhagen Fire of 1728 was the largest fire in the history of Copenhagen, Denmark. It began on the evening of 20 October 1728 and continued to burn until the morning of 23 October. It destroyed approximately 28% of the city (measured by coun ...

Theatrum Anatomico-chirurgicum Theatrum Anatomico-chirurgicum was an anatomical theatre which existed from 1736 until 1785 in Copenhagen, Denmark. It was built as a replacement for Domus Anatomica which had been destroyed in the Copenhagen Fire of 1728 and was itself succeeded ...

was built in its place.

References

{{reflist

External links

Thomas Bartholin: Domus Anatomica (1662)
(in Latin and Danish)] Buildings and structures completed in 1644 1644 establishments in Denmark