1. Several Museums In One
Founded in 1877, Stavanger's main museum traces the history of the city from Viking times to the present. The museum includes the Stavanger Museum of Natural History, the Norwegian Printing Museum, the Stavanger School Museum,the Stavanger Maritime Museum, the Norwegian Children's Museum, the Stavanger Art Museum, and the Norwegian Canning Museum. The royal residence of Ledaal is also managed by the museum.
2. Stroll Along The 18Th Century
A historic neighborhood, Gamle Stavanger dates back to the late 18th century and features a series of quaint cobblestone streets lined with 173 whitewashed wood homes reminiscent of a fairy tale. In recent years, the area has become increasingly trendy as urban dwellers reclaim the historic architecture of the past. The area has won several awards for architectural preservation, and includes a number of galleries and arts and crafts boutiques, as well as the Norwegian Canning Museum and Stavanger Maritime Museum.
3. Experience An Oil Rig
The Norsk Oljemuseum, housed in a futuristic building designed by Lunde & Løvseth Arkitekter A/S in 1999, has become a landmark in Stavanger. Constructed in concrete, glass and stone, the 43,000 square foot oil museum highlights the petroleum industry of the North Sea with a series of displays that include artifacts, photographs and film installations. The museum also focuses on sustainability and climate change. Among the main attractions are the world's largest drill bit, simulated oil rigs and a collection of oil-platform models.
4. Revisit The Middle Ages
Dating back to 1125, Stavanger Domkirke, a medieval stone cathedral, displays Gothic, Baroque, Romanesque and Anglo-Norman features. Considered Norway's oldest cathedral, the church showcases stone columns, tapestries, a baroque pulpit and stained-glass windows representing the Christian calendar. The cathedral is the seat of the Bishop of Stavanger and lists Saint Swithun, an early Bishop of Winchester, as its patron saint. A renovation completed in 1964 managed to restore many of the original medieval characteristics of the cathedral
5. Explore The Canning Process
Founded in 1975, the Norsk Hermetikkmuseum, a fish canning museum, is located in the Gamle Stavanger cannery. The building dates back to 1841 and was active in canning production from 1916 to the mid-1950s. The exhibits, which include machinery, tools labels and photographs, cover the 12-stage process of canning, which includes salting, threading, smoking, decapitating and packaging. The museum offers guided tours and also demonstrates how some of the machines work.
