Attractions
Top
Vigeland Park is the city's most visited attraction, a
vast green area of duck ponds, trees and lawns that is a monument
to the celebrated Norwegian sculptor Gustav Vigeland, who spent 40
years creating the life-size statues that decorate the walkways and
open spaces. There are more than 200 works presenting the human
form in a variety of poses and conveying a range of emotions. At
the centre of the park is the most impressive piece, the Monolith,
a gigantic mass of writhing bodies carved from a single column of
stone, and believed to be the largest granite sculpture in the
world at a height of 46ft (14m). Surrounding the column are groups
of human sculptures in various forms of interaction with each
other. The most famous and most photographed piece is the Angry
Boy, a fat child stamping his foot. There are many more sculptures
to be seen in the park and in the nearby Vigeland Museum, featuring
a display on the development of the artist's work and his sketches
and plaster originals.
see full details
Top
Situated on the Bygdøy Peninsula, the Kon-Tiki Museum
contains the renowned balsawood raft, the Kon-Tiki, on which Thor
Heyerdahl made his famous journey across the Pacific in 1947 to
prove the theory that the first Polynesian settlers could have
sailed the 4,300 miles (6,923km) between Peru and Polynesia. The
museum also contains the original reed raft, Ra II, on which
Heyerdahl sailed across the Atlantic in 1970. Besides the rafts
there is a huge stuffed whale shark, artefacts from his expeditions
and exhibits from his visits to Easter Island, and an intriguing
collection of archaeological finds from Easter Island, Galapagos,
East Polynesia and Peru.
see full details
Top
Situated on the Bygdøy Peninsula, the Viking Ship
Museum houses three 9th-century Viking ships that were excavated
from ritual burial mounds in the south of Norway. Their excellent
condition is due to the clay in which they were embalmed. Viking
ships were used as tombs for royalty who were buried with
everything they might need in their life after death. The biggest
and best preserved of the ships is the Gokstad, and the finest is
the Oseberg, a richly ornamented dragon ship with an intricately
carved animal head post, that was the burial chamber of a Viking
queen. The elegantly carved sleigh used by the Viking royalty, and
a hoard of treasure was found on the buried ship and is displayed
at the back of the museum. Raised platforms allow visitors to view
the inside of the ship's hulls.
see full details
Top
Bryggen, the site of the old medieval quarter, is a
charming, compact area of brightly coloured wooden homes that once
housed the city's merchants. Steep cobbled lanes are lined with a
vivacious blend of cafes and artists workshops. The Hanseatic wharf
area, with many buildings dating from before the 17th century, has
been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and is considered to be
one of the most important examples of the civilisation of a
medieval settlement in the world. This was once the working area of
the merchants and is the oldest part of Bergen, characterised by a
maze of lopsided wooden buildings with pointed gables facing the
harbour. The Bryggens and Hanseatic Museums as well as the 12th
century St Mary's Church are all in the Bryggen area. At one end of
the wharf is Bergen's famous fish market, a colourful market also
selling flowers, fruit, vegetables and souvenirs.
see full details
Top
The Hanseatic Museum is housed in one of the oldest
and best-preserved wooden buildings in Bryggen, the former home of
a wealthy merchant. Furnished in the 18th century style, it
provides a glimpse of the working and living conditions of the
Hanseatic merchants during the Middle Ages. The austere layout and
maze-like rooms are saturated by the smell of fish and leave a
lasting impression.
see full details
Top
The archaeological museum was built around the remains
of the oldest buildings discovered in Bergen, dating from the 12th
century, and the ruins have been incorporated into the exhibits
along with excavated tools, ceramics and skeletons. The museum
houses various artefacts and traditional costumes and imaginatively
attempts to recreate life in the Middle Ages with displays of
domestic implements, handicrafts, runic inscriptions and items
relating to seafaring and trade during medieval
times.
see full details
Top
Bergen's oldest surviving building, the beautiful
Romanesque stone Church of St Mary's, dates from the beginning of
the 12th century. The interior is decorated with old frescoes and a
splendid Baroque pulpit that was donated by the Hanseatic merchants
in 1676. The twin towers of the church are distinctive among the
low red-tiled roofs of the old quarter.
see full details
Top
The Tromsø Museum is northern Norway's oldest and
largest museum with exhibitions devoted to the cultural and natural
history of the region. There is a comprehensive display relating to
the traditional culture and music of the Sami or Lapp people and
their nomadic, reindeer-herding way of life. There are also daily
films in summer about the Northern Lights.
see full details
Top
The spectacular design of the white and ultra-modern
Arctic Cathedral is visible from afar, situated on a small hill on
an island linked by the spindly Tromsø Bridge. It is an
architectural masterpiece, made up of eleven large triangular
sections representing the eleven faithful apostles and symbolising
northern Norwegian heritage, culture and faith. It bears an
interesting resemblance to the Sydney Opera House in Australia, but
its colour and shape can also be likened to an iceberg. The
cathedral has one of the largest stained glass windows in Europe,
and the interior is decorated with grand chandeliers that are made
up of many prisms of colour and lights, representing hanging ice
formations.
see full details
Top
Polaria is an information and experience centre for
the whole family, combining interactive experiences with knowledge
about the arctic environment. There is a panoramic film about the
arctic wilderness of Svalbard, an Arctic Walkway that creates a
snowstorm experience and the Northern Lights spectacle. The seal
pool is especially exciting at feeding time, and an aquarium
provides a close look at arctic sea mammals and life in the
freezing waters.
see full details
