2-982-386 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Glass Roof of the late Antwerp Bourse, 1858. 'In the destruction by fire of this venerable building...the crash of the ironwork and glass of the matchless cupola was a main feature in the catastrophe: it was heard six miles off. This roof measured fifty-three yards, and in its construction 1,400,000 lb. of iron and 600,000 lb. of glass were used, the whole mass being supported by twelve cast-iron pillars fixed against the walls. The cost of its erection was £18,400. The Bourse stood in the very centre of Antwerp. It was built at the dawn of the Reformation, in 1531, and in it for a considerable time a large portion of the trade of the world was carried on...From 1531 to 1853 the court remained uncovered. In the latter year the burghers of Antwerp, in emulation of our Crystal Palace, spread a glass roof over the central space'. From "Illustrated London News", 1858.