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Oslo is the oldest of the Scandinavian capitals, having been founded by Harald Hardråde in 1050. The population was substantially reduced during the time of the Black Death in 1348 which claimed over 50% of the inhabitants. This epidemic also had political consequences for Norway, which became reduced to a province of Denmark. During this period Copenhagen was the actual capital of Norway. Oslo was also greatly
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affected by the Lutheran Protestant Reformation of 1537, with religious conflicts, political separation from the Catholic Church and the foundation of a Protestant National Church.
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After being leveled by fire in 1624, a fire which was purported to have been started deliberately by four witches, the city was rebuilt in brick and stone by King Christian IV of Denmark and Norway. Following intense renewal and advanced town planning in the spirit of the Renaissance, a completely new city was created and named Christiania -
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a name which stuck until 1925 when it reverted back to Oslo.
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Today Oslo is one of the 10 largest world capitals in area, but only 1/3 of the total area is built-up. The city is surrounded by forests and sea, which makes great possibilities for spending time out in the nature.
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Nordmarka, on Oslo's northern border is a sprawling recreation area that offers hiking, bicycle riding, skiing, fishing, wild berry picking, jogging trails, and more. It is 242 sq. km (93 sq. miles) of forest and 8 sq. km (3 sq. miles) park- land and recreational areas, and contains 343 lakes. Oslo is a ski eldorado with over 2,000 km (1,066 miles) of prepared ski tracks for cross- country skiing and many ski lifts for alpine skiing.
The Oslo fjord stretches more than 97 km (60 miles) north from the Skagerak to Oslo, and is dotted with islands.
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There are 40 islands and numerous islets in the immediate Oslo archipelago.
An important part of the city's political tradition is to preserve the fjord and the area surrounding the city for leisure and outdoor pursuits. Nordmarka is used by thousands of skiers and hikers all the year round thanks to restrictions in the urbanization of the city.
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In the old quarters of Oslo you will find well preserved wooden houses which are hundreds of years old and still inhabited.
You can take a walk along the banks of the idyllic Akerselva (the Aker River) and enjoy the architectural reminders of by gone times.
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Just a stones' throw away lies Kvadraturen (the Quadrangle) which consists of preserved and well maintained institutional buildings, many of which date from the 1600s and 1700s.
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Akershus Fortress
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The medieval fortress and castle were built around 1300. A fire in 1527 devastated the northern wing, and
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the castle was rebuilt and transformed into a royal palace under the Danish-Norwegian king, Christian IV. The castle contains dungeons, plush upper floors with banquet halls and staterooms; and the chapel, still used for royal events, which holds the crypts of King Håkon VII and Olav V. During WW II the Nazis used Akershus as a prison and place of execution, and today it's the site of Norway's Resistance Museum, which gives a vivid account of German occupation and the Norwegian struggle against it.
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The Vigeland Park
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Gustav Vigeland is Norway's greatest ever sculptor, and in the magnificent Vigelandsparken you find a unique collection of his sculptures. He was a prolific artist who presented the human form in a range of emotions and poses. The parks theme is "Journey through Life", and it contains 192 sculptures with more than 600 figures.
Everything modeled in full size by Vigeland, without the assistance of pupils or other
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Vigeland also designed the architectural setting and the layout of the grounds. The most impressive piece is probably a monolith of writhing bodies, believed to be the world's
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largest granite sculpture.
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Vigeland continued to model new sculptures for the park until his death in 1943. The park also contains a sculptured fountain and extensive grassed areas. The people of Oslo are just as frequent visitors to Vigelandsparken as the thousands of tourists who flock to the park.
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