Bergen, Norway
A view across the end of the harbour.
A view ti the top of the harbour and the glaciated valley beyond.
The fish market on the water front.
The local Starbucks in a converted building.
The Hanseatic Museum covered in scaffolding as the foundations are rotting and it is sinking into the ground so they are being replaced or reinforced.
Some large old houses but to the ones that the city is famous for.
My next planned stop didn't open until 10am whilst others didn't open until 11am so I had to rejig my plans. I passed the former market building and made my way to the...
...Bergen cathedral but this was shut despite being a religious building. I returned to the docks...
...passing an interesting Art Deco style building.
Then I reached the row of old buildings facing the harbour for which Bergen is known in the area of Brygge...
...the ones next to the first pair...
...three more missing out the one covered in scaffolding and plastic and a white one to see...
...the last three.
I saw a lot of this row as my hotel was right opposite it.
Next stop was the Bryggen Museum. One of the wooden houses burnt down and gave archaeologists an opportunity to dig in the foundations.
They found all sorts, such as old foundations...
....a pearl necklace.
There was a recreation of Bergen over time showing how the city developed and the number of fires that have destroyed different areas throughout the centuries.
As it was in 1393 and I didn't take photos of all of the changes but just what it looks like today.
On the wall was a projection of the incremental stages required to built a long boat.
Just some of the trade routes throughout Europe and the projection highlighted various different goods in turn and which routes they often travel along, such as fish and timber going south and timber to Iceland and Greenland, wine from the south to the north and gold, pearls and small high value items went from producers to richer markets.
Coins.
Tiny and fragile figurines and toys.
Some of the chins was highly decorated...
...some quite modern, plus a large collection of runic inscriptions and to my surprise...
...a lot of footwear.
The museum behind was a late opener so I walked up the hill to start at the top of the Bergen's Festooning, the Bergen Fortress which was partly open, such as much of the walls and inside the walls, now largely an open space. One of the giant defensive walls at the top bastion.
The entrance to the bastion.
So of the views of the city from the top...
...the view of the two roads along the northern coast of the fjord...
...and looking down into the interior of the walls.
One of the buildings still standing in the interior, the Bergen's Festooning Museum.
There is a display of Norwegian forces and their involvement in many UN operations.
All the war time operations of the resistance, how they developed, the rescuing of refugees and this lady's dress which could smuggle messages in the shoulder pads.
There was army history and uniforms through the ages...
...including this one with a smaller version of one of the cannon seen yesterday in Oslo.
Next it was the Rosenkrantz Tower just inside the main gate to the old fortress.
It was built to impress and faces the harbour and the town, although it stands sideways on to the fjord...
...the view from inside the fortress...
...and the view from the city.
We started in the dungeon and then moved up to the second level...
...with views across the city (it was a very bright day)...
...with a display of clothes near the window...
...and looking back into the room from the windows...
...4th level...
...a magnificent fireplace...
...a cannon...
...a view of the city from the top of the tower...
...of the next door building, Hakenshallen...
..and the feasting room.
Another mannequin and period costume...
...and the entrance doorway...
...wth detail of the coat of arms.
Through an archway was...
...Hakenshallen...
..from a courtyard with two other buildings...
...and barracks...
...but unlike the tower' it was built to face the fjord.
It was a feasting hall, and the dungeons are used for entertainment...
...more rooms...
But the whole building footprint is made up of the feasting hall.
I returned to the Bryggen Museum because just behind it is the Hanseatic Museumn and the Scotstuene. The Schotstuene was where the merchants would meet, hold court, apply their rules to their members, hand out punishments and socialise. There are four buildings here, but they weren't all originally here as some have been rescued from elsewhere, renovated to how they would have looked in their day and rebuilt here.
The side of one of the buildings.
The back corner and cafe space.
A corner cabinet.
One of the meeting rooms.
Where the judges met.
Another meeting room.
An oven to keep the room warm.
The kitchens, the only place in Bryggen where an open fire was allowed. The fires were on the stone floor with pots on chains lowered from the pole. On the left are individual work stations for the cooks.
The last room, usually painted red although some of the other rooms had wall paper that has been removed for conservation.
The other end of the same room although the light makes the red look orange.
Next I walked across town to visit the Bergen Maritime Museum. It was housed in a modern square two storey building on the top of a hill. It had a few (small) boats in it and items from ships and lots of photos and information boards in Norwegian and English. A replica long boat.
Another replica boat.
Upstairs it had several models of modern boats and this oil rig.
One whole wing upstairs was made out to be the top deck of a cruise ship for visitors to rest in. It wasn't quite what I expected.
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