Tuesday 14 October 2008

Gamlebyen i Fredrikstad - The Fortress Town # Part 2

It all began in 1567 when the king of Denmark-Norway decreed that the town of Sarpsborg, burned to the ground by arch enemy Sweden, should be rebuilt. The king bent his ear to a popular appeal to have the town resituated at a place that was easier to defend and had better living conditions.

The east bank of the Glomma estuary was the obvious choice, and for the first time in Norway a king let a town take its name from a person. That person was the king himself; and Fredrikstad would prove itself a town worthy of a king. The inhabitants didn´t even complain that the man who christened the town never stopped there, but merely sailed past a couple of times. Then again, during his lifetime the place was more a building site than an arena in which this most social of kings could enjoy himself. He should have been around a century or two later, by which time he would have no difficulty getting his glass filled for a toast to a well-proportioned and attractive town. And a fortress that deterred the enemy.

The old Fortress Town is a part of our European heritage, and many regard it as an obvious candidate for a place on UNESCO´s World Heritage list. Why isn´t the Old Town on the list? There are several reasons, not least of all Fredrikstad´s desire to keep it an integrated part of the city´s life. The Old Town has existed and continues to exist without the aid of any "tourist attraction"-label with all the dangers of commercialisation that brings with it.

Source : Opplev Fredrikstad




























































20 comments:

PJ said...

I feel like I could walk right into the pictures. Beautiful.

kjpweb said...

Oh my! So many excellent images!
Excellent!
Cheers, Klaus

Travis said...

There are so many stunning shots here that it is hard to pick one to comment about. Very well done. Looks like an extraordinary place.

Anonymous said...

thank you for this excellent virtual tour. i really enjoyed it

Rune Eide said...

Her var det mye bra. Jeg kan se at her har lysforholdene ikke vært enkle, men jeg synes du har taklet dem bra. Dersom du ikke har brukt RAW-format er det enda bedre gjort!,,Favoritten min er kanskje "Stiftsgaarden".

magiceye said...

thank you for the lovely walk through the town! it was magnificent!

ArneA said...

Excellent
men hvordan klarer du å finne så mange vakre motiver uten at mennesker eller andre inntrengere skaper visuell støy
Er du oppe og ute før folk våkner

Unknown said...

Amazing series as usual...splendid compositions as well

This Is My Blog - fishing guy said...

John: What a great looking city, it was a fun trip through the streets.

Sandi McBride said...

I don't know which I enjoyed more, the history lesson or the photos...but the history lesson would have been dry without the photos and the photos would have been just pretty pixels of color and a mystery without the history lesson. I enjoyed both in the the wonderful combination they made...I am here via David at Authorblog...
Sandi

Louis la Vache said...

Thank you, John, for the history lesson and the sparkling photos of this scenic place. "Louis's" favorite image was the bow of the boat seen through the passageway.

tr3nta said...

Beautiful tour... I loved the series...

Anonymous said...

what a beautiful old town. You captured very nicely.

Ivar Østtun said...

Superdupert. Du er flink til å fange lyset. Jeg sliter med å få så krystallklare bilder som deg. Godt jobba :-)

FO - 2 said...

For meg er lyset akkurat som det skal være. ;)
Ser at dere gutta er litt tekniske. Hehe.
Nr. 1 er utrolig flott.
Veldig bra motiv.
Og den stien skulle jeg gjerne ha rusla litt på ja.
Nydelig!

Randi said...

Sier som Ida...den stien skulle jeg så absolutt ha gått på...utrolig vakkert og stemningsfullt.

Men hva i alle dager er NETTFOTO...her trengs forklaring...:-)

Anonymous said...

Beautiful images, John. I hated the whale harpoon as it meant death in agony for a beautiful animal. But the rest are magic.

Dragonstar said...

What a beautiful place, and your photos really bring it to life. I love the one of the boat through the archway.

naturglede/Randi Lind said...

Nydelige bilder. Jeg har tatt masse bilder fra samme by, så dette er kjent. Jeg er med på Norge i Bilder på VG-bloggen og har serie der fra gamlebyen.Du hr tatt bilder fra andre vinkler enn meg. Dette likte jeg:)

Traci said...

These are awesome pictures!! I could picture myself walking down the street.