The port of Kristiansand lies on a level and almost square peninsula in the Skagerrak at the mouth of the Torridalselv (the lower course of the Otra). The town, founded by Christian IV in 1641, was destroyed by fire on several occasions in subsequent centuries (most recently in 1892), and was rebuilt on a regular grid plan.
Kristiansand is the chief town of Vest-Agder county and the see of a bishop. Its main sources of employment are industry and shipping.
Kristiansand is the site of the Quart Festival each year in July, Kristiansand Zoo and Amusement Park and the University of Agder's largest campus.
E 18 crosses the much indented Topdalsfjord on a suspension bridge 608m/660yd long and in 11km/7mi passes the Dyrepark (Wildlife Park), in which almost all the species found in Scandinavia are represented. It is also well known for its breeding of camels.
From Kristiansand a road runs north by way of Vennesla to Grovane, from which a train drawn by an old steam locomotive (1894) operates on Sundays along a 5km/3mi stretch of the old Setesdal railroad.
This week-long festival takes place in early May with dozens of different events. Choral, orchestral and chamber music is played in the Kristiansand Cathedral throughout the festival.
In the Market Square (Torget) in the center of Kristiansand is the Cathedral, rebuilt in neo-Gothic style in 1882-85 after a fire. It has a fine altar with a painting of Christ at Emmaus and wood figures of the Evangelists from the old church.
In the adjoining gardens can be seen a monument (by Gustav Vigeland) to the poet Henrik Wergeland (1808-45), a native of the town. On the east side of the square is a bronze statue of King Håkon VII (1872-1957).
28km/17mi southwest of Mandal is Lindesnes (alt. 38m/125ft), the most southerly point on the mainland of Norway (lat. 57°58'43" north), on which Norway's first lighthouse was built in 1655.
Mandal (pop. 12,000) 45km/28mi west of Kristiansand on E 18, lying on both banks of the Mandalselv, is the most southerly town in Norway, with handsome old burghers' houses and a large wooden church (1821). From the rocky hill of Uranienborg, to the north of the town, there are wide views.
The town of Mandal is a popular holiday resort, noted for the beaches surrounding it and the mild summer climate. The church in Mandal is the largest wooden church in Norway, with 1800 seats.
Outside Kristiansand, to the northeast, the Vest-Agder County Museum (Fylkesmuseum) is one of the largest open-air museums in Norway, with old cottages and farmhouses from Vest-Agder and the Setesdal, a street of old houses (Bygaden) from Kristiansand. Several rooms in the houses display furniture, textiles, glass, stoneware and old liturgical utensils. Near the museum stands the early medieval church of Oddernes, with a runic stone in the churchyard.
On the southwest side of Kristiansand is the West Harbor (Vestre Havn) bounded on the south by the little peninsula of Langmannsholm, and to the east, between Langmannsholm and Odderøy, the fishing harbor (harbor cruises). There are remains of old fortifications on Odderøy.
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Setesdal
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Mandal, Norway
Arendal, Kristiansand
Kristiansand
