Viking Cruises

68 | Viking Explorer Society News City guide BERGEN Named one of the secret capitals of Europe by Time magazine, the spirit of the Vikings lives on in this ancient Norwegian city known as the "Gateway to the Fjords". Nestling between mountains and spectacular fjords, Bergen was settled by the Vikings hundreds of years before its official founding in 1070 AD. The capital of Norway until 1300, it flourished as a city of commerce and trade. For four centuries, merchants of the Hanseatic League traded fish on Bryggen wharf, and today the timber buildings that remain from the 18th century are a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site. Protected from the North Sea's winds by a collection of islands, Bergen's climate is never overwhelmingly cold, and the views from nearby Mt. Fløien are breathtaking. MUST-SEES With 62 original timber-clad houses painted in ocher, oxblood, mushroom and white, Bryggen wharf is one of Bergen's major attractions, and the Schøtstuene Museum provides a fascinating glimpse of medieval life in the days of the Hanseatic League. The museum is located in a building owned by a local merchant during the late 19th century and features a recreation of a trading room, along with the merchant's office and sleeping quarters for sailors and guests. Opposite Bryggen wharf is Bergen Fortress, once the royal residence and one of the oldest and best-preserved castles in Norway. Many of its buildings date back to the 1240s, and one excavation has revealed structures from 1100— remnants of the Viking Age. The spectacular 13th-century Håkons Hall is the largest surviving medieval secular building in Norway. It was once the palace of King Håkon IV, one of the most important kings in Norway's history, and is now a museum. Near the pretty Festplassen is Grieg Hall, a remarkable feat of architecture dedicated to the composer and a centerpiece of Bergen's cultural district. Just north of the Festplassen are two of Bergen's old churches, built in a style

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