Places linked to a character to visit Norway

The small, enchanted villa of the great Norwegian composer and pianist of classical music (Romantic period) is situated high up on a point of greenery overlooking Lake Nordås. Built in 1885 for Bergen-born Edvard Grieg, the house has been preserved in its original state since his death. This museum, which houses all Grieg's period furniture and personal objects, is a house that lives on thanks to the intimate concerts that are still held on the master's old piano. Grieg lived here for over twenty years at the end of his life. Today, there are concerts every day during the International Music Festival, as well as summer concerts on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays. Tickets are on sale at the tourist office. The new, larger concert hall is fortunately hidden under the bridge just before the house. A little further down the road, Grieg's very basic little working hut is practically at the water's edge. His coat, hat and violin still hang on the wall. From the only window, you can see the lake through the branches of the large weeping birches. Another historic building nearby, the Fantoft Stavkirke, a wooden church dating back to 1150, sadly went up in smoke in June 1992, in the wave of arson and Satanism that swept the country. It has since been rebuilt to its original appearance.

Norway's most famous explorer was born in Tomta, on the banks of the river that runs through Fredrikstad. Roald Amundsen, who mapped out the Northwest Route, i.e. the route over the American continent, was also the first to reach the South Pole. He died trying to rescue another explorer, Nobile, trapped in the Arctic ice. Here you can read about his life and the fascinating number of records and discoveries Amundsen made.

Tomba Emanuele is the name that Emanuel Vigeland, brother of the sculptor Gustav, gave to the building. He had decided to build a museum and then wanted to make it his mausoleum. When he died, the windows were walled up and his ashes were placed inside. The vaulted room without light that contains the Vita fresco is amazing. No daylight filters through this remarkable odyssey of existence, from birth to death, where erotic scenes and naked bodies follow one another to compose a piece that shocked contemporaries. This work of a lifetime, which covers more than 800 square meters, is impressive.

This is the farm of Knut Hamsun, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature following the publication of his book The Awakening of the Glebe. Like the main character in his book, he ran the farm for many years. Closed to the public, in an article published in 1910, the author accused tourism of "making the people servile, rotting the healthy life of the countryside and diverting the farmers from traditional values by making them forget their duty, which is to clear new land, replant the forest and colonize the virgin spaces of the Far North".

This manor house dates from 1807. It was built for the then Minister of Trade Niels Aall. Apart from the fact that it is considered the finest example of empire architecture in Norway, it is also a place where important political decisions were made. Indeed, Aall was involved in the discussions that followed the signing of the 1814 constitution. The walk through the garden is pleasant and we recommend a guided tour, if possible with Elisabeth!

The former apartments of the great playwright Henrik Ibsen, where he lived from 1895 until his death in 1906, have been transformed into a museum in recent years. The original furniture was salvaged from the Bygdøy open-air museum to bring it back to its original setting. The museum has been restored and recently reopened. It features an interactive exhibition dedicated to the artist's life and work, and now boasts its own theater stage!

Ole Bull (1810-1880), composer and virtuoso violinist, made a fortune by giving many concerts in Europe and especially in the United States. He bought this little island to build his "madness", a kitsch délire called the Petite Alhambra. It is a wooden villa painted in blue and white blue. A horseshoe staircase rises to the veranda flanked by a turret in onion bulbs. The concert hall inside is a wooden imitation of the Moorish architecture. This summer residence, including the built trails and small pieces of water invited to romantic walks, was a meeting place for the many friends and relations of the artist. The house has remained unchanged since his death. Listed in Historical monuments, it has been open to the public since 1985.

Former presbytery, this room is today in the cultural centre of Nordland. It welcomed louis-philippe of Orléans in 1795, future king of France, when it when the Revolution. Remain today to admire the frescoes of 1754 painted by Gottfried Ezekiel in rococo style, probably the oldest in the country.

This farmhouse, where Ibsen spent his childhood between the ages of 7 and 15, is located 5 km north of the city. It was originally the Ibsen family's holiday home, but the father went bankrupt in 1835 and had to sell their residence in the city. The Venstøp property burned down in a fire in 1886. The attic that frightened Ibsen so much is the same as the one mentioned in his play The Wild Duck. There is also a small performance of some of Ibsen's productions. This site is one of three museums dedicated to the playwright in Norway.