THE ROYAL PALACE, THE AKERSHUS CASTLE AND THE CATHEDRAL

The Royal Palace
The palace was built to serve as the residence for the king when he was in Norway and to provide official reception rooms. It is said Carl XIV Johan King of Sweden and Norway picked out the site of the Royal Palace himself during a horseback ride. Danish Architect Hans Ditlev Frantz Linstow designed the palace, and the corner stone was laid by the King in 1825. The palace was originally planned as a large H-formed complex, but the plans were simplified due to financial reasons. Under King Oscar I it became soon clear that the palace was too small. The Parliament granted funds to enlarge the wings and improve the exterior. The roof was lowered and the main facade received a monumental temple front with columns. Also the pink facade became white around this time. The Royal Palace was finally initiated in the summer of 1849 in presence of the entire royal family. In the 1990's the Palace was rehabilited and rebuilt. Technical installations have been modernized including the kitchen, along with the overall building structure among others the guestrooms and the royal appartment. In the summer of 2001 the work was finished. Now it also contains offices for the staff. On the first floor you find among others the studies of King Harald V, Queen Sonja and Crown Prince Haakon and the representation rooms.

The architecture of the palace is influenced by the Empire style. With its 158 rooms it is a comparatively small palace, without rich decorated interiors. The palace was built in brickwork. The palace has a surface area of almost 4000 m2 and a total floor area of almost 17000 m2. The palace park was laid out in the 1840s as a romantic park, and covers an area of approximately 220 decares.

The Akershus Castle
The building of the Akershus Fortress was started in 1299, during the reign of King Haakon V Magnusson, and completed under King Haakon VI Magnusson in the second half of the 14th century. During the 1500s the fortress was burned and laid under siege several times. A new construction period started in the first half of the 17th century during the reign of King Christian IV of Denmark and Norway, when the fortress was given much of his present look. In 1815 Akershus ws abandoned as a fortress and became public offices, jail and archive. Today it houses a royal museum - including the burial vault - and is used by the government for representation purposes.

The Cathedral
Vår Frelsers Kirke (Our Saviour's Church) from 1697 was Oslo's main church during the reign of King Frederik III of Denmark and Norway. It was built as a small cruciformed church, and was for 150 years, the only church in Oslo, besides the palace church at the Akershus fortress. The church was remodelled in 1848-50 according to the plans of the German architect Alexis de Chateauneuf. The tower was lengthened and given a new shape, inspired by baroque and renaissance styles, while the west portal was formed according to late Gothic style. Today's ceiling decorations, done by the Norwegian painter Hugo Lous Mohr were completed in 1950, the same year the church was given the status of Cathedral.