an important ottonian church was built at hildesheim under
Hildesheim Cathedral The Cathedral was built in 872 under Bishop Altfrid as a cruciform three-aisled basilica with a two-story westwork.[1] It is an example of Ottonian architecture, with alternating column support and semi circular apses completing the naves.[4] The building suffered severe fire damage in 1046.[2] Bishop Azelin planned to erect a new, larger building further to the west and to extend the nave. His successor, Hezilo of Hildesheim, abandoned this plan and instead built on the old foundations, incorporating the surviving walls into the new building. Further important renovations occurred up to the end of the fourteenth century but did not deviate from the ground plan of Bishop Altfrid's basilica. The north and south side chapels date from the gothic period and the tower above the crossing from the baroque period. In the nineteenth century, the original westwork was replaced by a Neo-Romanesque two-tower facade, which stood until 1945.[1]