Norway — Kongsberg — town and ski resort

Kongsberg Norway There is an interesting legend about the founding of the city of Kongsberg in southern Norway. They say that one day in the summer of 1623, the shepherd’s children accidentally discovered silver in these places. How did the children know it was silver? The peculiarity of the Kongsberg deposits is such that the metal in them is found primarily in the form of nuggets. This lucky chance was the foundation of the city. By order of King Christian IV, already in 1624, Consberg was founded.

The city existed and developed exclusively thanks to the mining of silver. Not only local miners worked at the mines, but also specialists from Germany. Only in 1958, when further development became unprofitable, the mines were closed.

The Napoleonic Wars and the devastating fire of 1810 left little of the city, so there are few old buildings here. The city church of the 18th century is definitely worth a visit. This is one of the largest baroque churches in Norway. 2400 people can attend the prayer service at the same time. The austere external appearance of the church contrasts with its rich interior decoration: gilded carvings, graceful sculptures, and the shine of marble fascinate visitors.

Interior highlights include the magnificently decorated royal box and two unique crystal chandeliers. The church has the largest baroque organ in northern Europe. It was created by German craftsmen in the years 1760-1765. The instrument has a unique deep sound, great organists of the world come to play on it. There is an old cemetery next to the church.

The buildings dating back to the middle of the 19th century can be seen in the small town square with three waterfalls. There is a curious bridge with old lanterns across the Numedalslogen River, on which the Kongsberg is located. And on the shore there is a sculpture of a fisherman with a fishing rod. But the main thing in Kongsberg, of course, is connected with the silver mines.

The excursion to the mines will be very entertaining. Almost 2 km. tourists take a special train to the Royal Mine and, together with a guide, travel through the adits. The deepest of them is 570 meters below sea level. During the tour, tourists participate in a treasure hunt, descend and ascend by freight elevators, and then everyone is offered lunch in the large hall of the Royal Mine.

The development of silver deposits brought the city not only material wealth – the Royal Mining College was founded here in 1757, now a faculty of the University of Oslo. Another interesting museum in Kongsberg is the Lagdal National Museum. It includes a wide variety of exhibitions. One of the most interesting is the reconstruction of one of the old streets of Kongsberg.

In the open-air museum, you can see Norwegian farms, where traditional Norwegian pets are walked in the summer. There are also old shops or craft shops. However, the Lagdal Museum is unique for its collection of optical instruments – the only one in Norway. Music lovers should come to Kongsberg in early July – this is the time of the largest jazz festival in Scandinavia.

The undoubted advantage of the Norwegian ski resort Kongsberg is the variety of slopes, thanks to which both novice athletes and professionals can spend their time here. For vacationers with the whole family, there is a separate children’s area with their own lifts, and for fans of snowboarding – a well-equipped snow park. The difference in elevation on the slopes is 330 m: the lower station is located at an altitude of 235 m, and the upper one – at an altitude of 565 m. The longest trails are for beginners (“green”) – 3500 m and 2200 m. The “blue” slope for amateurs extends to 1800 m, and “red”, designed for experts – at 1900 m. Two “black” tracks, which are allowed only for professional athletes, are 1700 m for extreme skiing and 500 m for mountain slalom. For lovers of free skating, there are also six tracks: some of them lead to the Knutehütta log house-museum, opened in 1929 and located at an altitude of 730 m, and some to the TV tower at the top of Mount Jonsknuten.

Day trips in Norway https://excurzilla.com/en/norway