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| Stavanger COA |
After another good week on the road, we reached our new destination, the city of Stavanger in it's own municipality (same-same). Togheter with the neighbouring town Sandsnes, Stavanger is the third largest urban zone in the country, and the 4th largest by population, with 132.729 inhabitants.
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Sverd i fjell (English: Swords in Rock) commemorates the historic Battle of Hafrsfjord |
Interesting Facts: The city counts the completion of it's cathedral, Stavanger Cath. as it's founding year, 1125.
As we already know, Norway is experiencing an economic 'boom' since the late 20th century due to the offshore oil industry, this has affected most cities, as we have seen in Haugesund and earliers stops.
In Stavanger it has been a major force, contributing to the population growth and overall development of the city, including the instalation of higher education institutions, military instalations and unemployment rates lower than the Norwegean and European average.
I.F: Stavanger has been ranked as the most expensive city.
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| Stavanger Harbour |
For long periods of time it's most important industries have been shipping, shipbuilding and the fish canning industy, but in 1969, a new boom began as oil was discovered in the North Sea and Stavanger was chosen to be the onshore center for the oil industry on the sector.
Stavanger was an importan city even way before oil, being one of Norway's oldest cities, existing as a church and market town in it's early days.
Interesting Fact: The county of Rogaland (area of Stavanger) was occupied by the Germans during WW2, the city was conquered without resistence. Over 480.000 mines were planted with forced labor from natives in the period of the war, all of which the Wehrmacht was required to clear. 62 were killed and 94 were injured.
- One of the 'four greats' writers of Norway was born and died here, Alexander Kielland. The others are:
Henrik Ibsen
Bjornstjerne Bjornson
Jonas Lie
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| Lake Mosvatnet, with aerial view of the city and the 3km path around the lake. |
The first place we visited was only within a 20 min walk from the 18th century wooden houses in the center, the local lake Mosvatnet, probably the most popular spot in the city.
I.F: In 1995 over 560.000 people regularly visited Mosvatnet
Leading it's importance in the oil exploration in Norway, Stavanger has the only petroleum museum in Europe, in a rather interesting architectural design, resembling an offshore oil platform.
As the city is so deeply conected to petrol exploration, you can also see the changes the industry has made to it and the people.
It was a rather productive and remarkable visit, where we were able to both have fun and learn about the curious and profitable world of petrol.
Very few galleries were as informative, organized and honest as the Petroleum Museum, being critic and open about the current state of Norway and it's future concerning the wealth from the black gold. This visit makes itself valuable for everyone, being interesting from the layman to the students and specialists.
There also were many interactive exhibits and dinamic ativities; after learning how oil and gas are created, discovered and produced, and what they are and can be used for in the future, we participated in a quiz with 5 questions. Once we got all of them right, the staff took a picture of us and added it to the museum"
The exhibitions are varied and well produced, there also is a 3D movie "Petropolis" being displayed all day, as well as many challanging activities to partake.
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| Next Stop, Kristiansand, 199 miles away -Preety far, we'll have make some small stops along the way. |
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