Bergen

Sign at the airport. It is supposed to get you to think
what Bergen is to you since the city has many facets.
My thought was that the artist isn't sure where they are.

Looking at Bergen today, it’s not hard to imagine that from 1217 when King Håkon moved the capital of the Kingdom of Norway here from Trondheim until sometime in the 1600s, Bergen was the most important city in Norway and for part of that time the most important city of the North Atlantic. Even after the capital was moved to Oslo in 1299, the city continued to flourish as the leading port of the Hanseatic League established in 1350. The League, headquartered in Germany, held a trade monopoly over northern Europe for the next 200 years. Trade continued to flourish in Bergen even after that time. Its reach stretched from Ireland and Scotland all the way to Greenland. The city acquired a cosmopolitan character and some impressive architecture. As with most cities of the time, most of the wooden buildings were destroyed by fire, but the essence of the period remains in the Bryggen harbor district honored as one of UNESCO’s 89 international historic monuments.

The old warehouses of the Bryggen district are the historical and tourist highlight of Bergen. The old buildings are protected and being restored to their original state even as they house street level shops and restaurants. Tourists are invited to visit the museum and wander the narrow back alleys even as the traders did 700 years ago. Two hotels also grace the area.

The view from Floien

One of the goats earning his keep.

Another highlight, especially on a sunny day, is the trip up Fløien, one of the seven mountains surrounding Bergen, on the Fløibanen funicular. Those hardier than us can hike up Fløien on a gently-sloped paved trail. A more common activity is to take the funicular up the mountain, have lunch while enjoying the magnificent view, play with the goats there to keep vegetation under control, and take the trail down.

Fisketorget is a popular place.

That is dried cod from Lofoten hanging over the prepared meals.

Paella maker

Cherie purchased some berries for us to enjoy.

We also spent some time at Fisketorget (Fish Market) where one can buy all sorts of fresh fish or a meal to enjoy while watching the harbor activity. When I first visited it 50 years ago it was primarily a market where local people purchased fish for dinner. I remember buying a sack full of shrimp to peel and eat sitting on the edge of the harbor tossing the shells into the harbor at my feet. Even two years ago that part of the market made up about half the vendors. Today, most of those vendors have been replaced by those selling prepared food to eat on site. One vendor makes paella.

Enjoying a beer after a day or touristing

Other highlights we did not have time to visit on this trip include Troldhaugen, the home of Edvard Grieg, Norway’s preeminent composer. There, one can tour his home, the small building overlooking the fjord where he composed his music, and a beautiful concert hall for performances throughout the year. Bergen’s wide variety of museums include an art museum, a couple of historical museums, a fishery museum and an aquarium. Gamle Bergen (Old Bergen) is a collection of 30 old houses just outside the city limits. Any visitor to Norway misses out if they don’t spend a few days in this beautiful coastal city.

A bird overlooks the fact that we are leaving town, our bags in tow.

You can see an earlier post about Bergen here.

Vik Medieval Churches, Part II

Our visit to the Hove Stone Church was just as interesting. This church was built in 1170 as a private church so the wealthy need not worship together with the regular citizens. When the Reformation came to Norway in 1537, all things Catholic were removed and/or destroyed.

As beautiful as the restoration work is, perhaps the most interesting thing about the Hove Church is that Peter Blix is buried there. The Norwegian government outlawed burials within church walls in 1850. Because he owned the church, Blix chose to be buried there when he died in 1901. Quite possibly, the burial took place before the authorities were informed and they decided to let it be.

This altar is made of marble

Thick walls for protection from attack, a realistic possibility.

Beautiful tapestries, too.

Blix was a strict preservationist believing that buildings should be restored to their original condition and intent. This means that a crucifix adorns the interior and the decorations were restored as much as possible.

The tiled floors represent Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. The stained glass windows depict Jesus, Moses, and David.

Typical slate roof on this small canopy.

Vik Medieval Churches, Part I

A Look at Vik from Above

Vik, a small city on the shores of an arm of Norway’s largest fjord, the Sognefjord, is the home of two magnificent medieval churches. We were interested in them because our friend Cherie’s family has roots in the area and she had found a photograph of the Hove Stone Church in some papers of her sister’s. When we realized we were staying only a short drive from Vik, we decided to give them a visit.

Our first stop in Vik was at the Hopperstad Stave Church. Approximately 1000 stave churches were built in Norway during the Middle Ages. None were built after the Reformation because of their ‘Catholic-ness’ and they fell into disrepair. Only 28 remain today, mostly in rural Norway.

 

An outside decoration

Built around 1130, the Hopperstad church was restored in the late 1800s by Peter Blix, one of Norway’s leading architects. The story really begins with the other medieval church in Vik, the Hove Stone Church. At the time Blix was working on King Hakon’s Hall in Bergen. He was offered some trimmed soapstone for that job. Because soapstone in trimmed condition is rare, he assumed it came from an old church ready to be torn down. Upon investigation, he learned that the stone would come from the Hove Stone Church in Vik. Instead of taking the offer of the soapstone, he tried to get the city to save the old church. When that effort failed, he purchased it himself and paid for the restoration work between 1883 and 1886.

While planning the work on the Hove Stone church, he learned that the nearby Hopperstad Stave Church was in even worse condition. When he couldn’t get the city fathers interested in saving that church either, he offered to oversee the work free of charge and managed to raise much of the money for the restoration on his own. Thus, he was able to save both medieval churches in the town. Using pictures of the original church and his knowledge of other stave churches, he did his best to restore both to their original Catholic origins.

The altar is on the left. the posts leading to the chancel have been polished by being touched for eight centuries

Note the decorations above the altar.

They depict the birth and childhood of Jesus

The church has an interesting origin. The story is that it was to be built further from town at a higher elevation, but the morning construction was to begin, the town awoke to discover that all the building materials had been moved. Assuming this was divine intervention, they decided to built the church on this new site.

One of the priests carved his initials here.

This intricate wood carving is in the entry way.

 

The ancient graffiti has been painted white so we can see it more easily. Pictures include dangerous animals with sharp teeth, fish, and boats, along with some personal marks and symbols. At least twenty different pictures have been found.

 

As a side note, as we approached the stave church, we realized that we had been there before. On our 2011 fjords tour, we stopped at this church for a few minutes to take pictures of the outside. We had to catch a ferry, so we weren’t able to see the inside at that time, so this was still a new experience for us.

Our admission price included a tour. In addition to pointing out the different aspects of the church our guide had a flashlight that he used to illuminate the highlights in the dark interior.