Oslo Travel Guide - History

By the Middle Ages, Oslo had grown to 3000 inhabitants and covered an area the size of the present Royal Palace Garden. In 1349, the bubonic plague killed half of the inhabitants and in its wake, Norway became a province of Denmark, with Copenhagen the official capital.

In 1624, a fire lasting three days caused almost total destruction of the city. Not long afterward, King Christian IV of Denmark-Norway began rebuilding on the other side of Bjorvika. Residents protested this change; leading to the king personally coming to the site to enforce the relocation and re-naming the city after himself - calling it Christiania.