University of Toronto
Gothic and Romanesque stone college quadrangle, largely rebuilt after a devastating nineteenth-century library fire.
Location
About this audio guide
This guide to the University of Toronto's main college building follows a single night, Valentine's Day 1890, when a packed party turned into a fire that raced up a wooden staircase and into the college library above. You'll hear how Toronto's fire brigade struggled against the blaze, what the university lost from its shelves, and how rival colleges and donors from across the British Empire responded within days. It traces the debate that followed over whether to rebuild at all.
This audio guide was created using AI.
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