Memorial to the Battle of Bergen Harbour, 1/8/1665. (aka Battle of Vågen. The battle was one of those which should not have taken place but did. The local commander did not know that the English fleet had permission from the king (of Denmark-Norway) to capture Dutch ships sheltering in the harbour so opened fire from Bergenhus Fortress – the only time the fortress ever took part in a battle.

Memorial to Norwegian sailors of the Great War. Erected by their friends and admirers in Great Britain and dedicated to “that great company of true norsemen who though at peace with all men dared to defy the horrors and perils of war and in a rightful service endured fearlessly to the end”:-

Memorial in Bergen to Skansens Bataljon Buekorps/Bow Corps. Falt I Krigen 1940-1945. Falt I Krigen means “fell in war.”

Bergenhus Fortress is one of the oldest stone built fortifications in Norway. The buildings lie between those of the Rosencrantz Tower and Haakons Hall. This page counts those as part of the fortress.

Courtyard from north:-

East building:-

North building:-

There are of course older buildings in Bergen apart from in Bryggen. Some of them are even built from stone.

One such is the Rosencrantz Tower, apparently one of the most important renaissance monuments in Norway. Parts of it date to the 1270s. We passed it on the way into the city centre from the ship’s mooring and took photos on the way back.

As is our usual experience it was shrouded in scaffolding and plastic:-

Right next to it is Haakons Hall (Hakon Hall) built by Håkon Håkonsson between 1247 and 1261 as a royal residence:-

Gable end:-

Hakon Hall from west:-

The building housing Bergen’s District Court, (Tinhuset, on Tårnplassen 2,) is in that quasi-fascistic official building Art Deco style. Its wiki page says it was designed by Egill Reimers in neoclassical style but to me there are clear elements of Deco in it and it was designed during the 1930s.

Its entrance is adorned by stylised figures representing the four cardinal virtues, wisdom, justice, moderation and strength:-

The pillars are each surmounted by some sort of heraldic beast:-

Close-up:-

Detail; horizontals, verticals, banding, patterned brickwork:-

I found some better pictures of the court than mine on this flickr account.

This clock was on a building at the entrance to the dock where our ship was berthed. The tower in white and the flagpole are also deco features:-

While wandering Bergen city centre I was delighted to see this building looming. Lots of deco hallmarks; curvature, rule of three, horizontals, verticals:-

These closer views also show up the building’s balconies:-

This bridge nearby certainly has a deco feel, albeit in a Scandinavian way:-

This monument with a series of sculptures round its base I thiought represented all the trades associated with Bergen but it seems to be called the Sailor’s Monument or Maritime Memorial:-

This statue of the poet Nordahl Greig is to the side of the National Theatre:-

King Hakon VII, 1872 – 1957:-

This one seems to list former Norwegian monarchs:-

I think this is St John’s Church (Johanneskirken) An impressive structure we did not have time to get closer to:-

Quaint wooden cottage:-

Street to the above builidng’s side:-

Street off Bryggen:-

Wooden buildings – on way down from Fløibanen:-

A more modern square in the city centre:-

This one shows the ship we were travelling on (extreme right):-

Close up on lake with fountain:-

A road bridge in central Bergen from Mount Fløyen:-

Part of Bergen with sea inlets beyond:-

A distant suspension bridge (photo is fuzzy due to zoom function.) Due to its sovereign wealth fund – a legacy of the oil boom – Norway is festooned with infrastructure like this:-

One of Bergen’s attractions is the Fløibanen funicular railway which ascends from the city centre 320 metres up a mountain, Mount Fløyen.

This is the street that leads up to the lower station:-

At lower station:-

Inside tunnel-

On the ascent:-

The summit terminus leads on to a viewing area where there you get a magnificent vista of Bergen:-

We decided to walk back down the path as it would give us a chance to see parts of Bergen visitors would perhaps not normally encounter.

There were goats near the summit:-

An attration for children it seems:-

On the way into Bergen from where our ship had docked you stroll along Bryggen (the dock.) Originally named Tyskebryggen (the German Dock) and was the site of the first buildings in Bergen. It is now a UNESCO World Heritage site.

I assume the one with the painted tarpualin covering it was undergoing refurbishment:-

Several closes run off Bryggen into back streets. These house idosyncratic little shops:-

Note connecting wooden stairway here:-

This building in the back streets has a wodden hoist:-

This stone building marks the end of Bryggen:-