Fredrikstad Tourist Attractions
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Situation and characteristicsFrederikstad lies near the Oslofjord amid a group of towns with a total population of 70,000, mainly employed in industry. Norway's longest river, the Glåma, flows into the Skagerrak here and divides the town into two - the historic old town, still surrounded by its walls, on the east bank and the modern port and industrial town on the west. The harbour of Frederikstad is kept open during the winter months by an ice-breaker.King Frederick II of Denmark ordered the building of the town in 1567, but three years later it was burned down by the Swedes. After several repetitions of this the town was surrounded by strong fortifications in the 17th century, and in 1685 Fredrikstad, with a total of 130 cannon, was the strongest fortress in the whole of Norway. The old town is now the only surviving fortified town in Scandinavia.Fredrikstad is nearby the Island of Hankb, a fashionable seaside resort.
Old Town
Within its protecting walls and bastions lies the Old Town (Gamlebyen) of Fredrikstad, with its quiet Renaissance quarters and roughly cobbled streets. The Victuals Store dates from 1687, the Prison (Slaveriet), now housing the Municipal Museum, from 1731. The church (1779), unlike its five predecessors, survived the fires which ravaged the town from time to time. The Town Hall was built in 1784.
Fort Kongsten
Fort Kongsten (1685) was one of the outer defenses of the stronghold of Fredrikstad. The underground chambers and passages illustrate the military engineering techniques of the early modern period.
Isegran
Another outwork of the Fredrikstad stronghold lies opposite Fort Kongsten on the island of Isegran, on which, about the year 1280, the last Jarl of Norway had his castle.
Cathedral (Glemmen Church)
On the west side of the Glåma are Fredrikstad Cathedral (1880), which has one of the finest organs in Norway (4,000 pipes) and stained glass by Emanuel Vigeland, and the medieval Glemmen Old Church, spanning the long and eventful history of the town.
Surroundings
Oldtidsveien
Road 110, which runs between Fredrikstad and Skjeberg, is known - not only to local people - as Oldtidsveien, the Old Road.
Begby - Rock Carvings
The 3,000-year-old rock carvings at Begby on agricultural and seafaring motifs show that Fredrikstad's Old Road was already in use in Bronze Age times.
Borge
The church at Borge, on the Fredrikstad Old Road, dates only from 1861, but there are remains of walls belonging to a predecessor of the early medieval period.
Hunn
At Hunn traces of ploughing have been found which show that there was a settlement here 4,000 years ago. The burial mounds in this area date from between the beginning of the Christian era and the Viking age.A walk along the Old Road is a walk through several thousand years of European history. The features likely to be of most interest to the ordinary visitor are the rock carvings.
Map of Fredrikstad Attractions
Map - Fredrikstad
