Our second day in Tønsberg began from a pleasant sunshine. We didn’t want to hurry up, and took it easy.
One of our windows was overlooking the Tønsberg Cathedral, and we could see the statue of Svend Foyn, famous Norwegian shipping magnate and philantropist. In fact, the white building on the right was the residence where he and his wife lived (today protected):
Svend Foyn was born in Tønsberg in 1809. He was sent to sea on the family ships at the age of 11. Foyn became a whaling magnate by introducing pioneering methods for hunting and processing whales, and steadily accumulated a considerable fortune. He donated funds to workers housing, restored and protected their homes, gave money to benefit his employees, and later left all his fortune to a mission fund.
Svend Foyn is well-remembered in Tønsberg, and in the whole Norway.
Flemming and I continued our walk and sometimes stopped to appreciate the beautiful architecture of the old houses:
One of them had a story displayed on its wall. There was also a statue of a munk, given to the house’ previous owner on his 50 years birthday (red arrow), and some childrens’ underware hanging, I believe as a tourist attraction (blue arrow):
The story on the wall was about the rare drain covers, written by Trond Barth Andersen. I give it here with small adjustments:
“Once upon a time, the long-time head of the Tønsbergs’ municipality management, Øyvind Jacobsen, who was in his 80s at that time, visited another municipality where they had done something special. They had had the municipal coat of arms molded into their drain lids! Good idea, thought Øyvind Jacobsen, and immediately ordered 20 copies with the Tønberg city seal. He proudly ordered to put them out in the town. But when mayor Erik Carlsen saw them, he was furious. “It’s like stepping on the Norwegian flag – remove them immediately!” The lids ended up somewhere. Long after a new mayor was in place, it had become common in many municipalities in Norway. Tønsberg had to have them again. This time they were from the Ulefoss Iron Foundry and with the city seal covering almost the entire lid. Some of the original drain covers eventually also appeared in different places.
Being interested in the history, the author of this story and his friends searched for many years for the original lids with the small seals. The joy was great when 10 of them were discovered in Rådhusgaten at the Foyn Center in 2017.
As a tribute to Gråbrødregaten (which is a street in Tønsberg), current head of the town operations Øyvind Myhre ensured that two of the rare originals were put up there. Note the small difference. Treat them with respect!”
Flemming and I needed a cafe, to talk about the lids history of Tønsberg over a cup of coffee. We got a table at Bare Barista, where they had great coffee, chocolate made of chocolate (I had one with chilli – it was really good), and some boring cakes:
Nice bike on one of the streets – an advertisement for a shop around the corner:
We visited Vinmonopolet, a government-owned alcoholic beverage retailer and the only company allowed to sell beverages containing an alcohol content higher than 4.75% in Norway. Often such companies have very good wines at reasonable prices, because they buy big and can therefore negotiate better. We got a very nice bottle of champagne there for the dinner at home later that day. In a supermarket, we saw cheese called Jarlsberg (the name of the airport we landed in), and bought it as well – it was quite good, we loved it:
There were a couple of other places in Tønsberg we wanted to experience. One of them was Nordbyen – the oldest part of Tønsberg.
Nordbyen consists of just one street with wooden houses:
The houses were well-maintained, with cozy yards:
After Nordbyen, we took a steep path up – to visit the ruins of the Tunsberghus, which was a medieval fortress that defended Tønsberg for more than 300 years.
When we reached the top, a statue of Kristina of Norway met us there:
Princess Kristina (1234 – 1262) was the daughter of King Haakon IV Haakonsson. The story goes, her farther made an agreement with the King of Castile Alfonso X that Kristina would marry one of his (many) brothers, but Kristina could choose her husband by herself. Kristina, accompanied by more than 100 people, was sent to Spain. She chose Philip, the youngest one. They didn’t have any children, and four years later Kristina died at the age of 28.
Kristina was buried in the abbey church of Covarrubias. In 1952, her sarcophagus was discovered during the restoration of the abbey. It was later concluded with the help of archaeologists, historians, and doctors, that the remains were of the Princess Kristina.
The towns of Tønsberg and Covarrubias entered a friendship agreement based on this antient connection, and the abbey has become a kind of pilgrimage site for Norwegian visitors, interested in history.
Flemming and I went for a walk around the fortress’ ruins, which also included the ruins of Castrum Tunsbergis, Norway’s largest castle in the 13th century. The views were spectacular.
In the old days, there were huge walls, towers, residential buildings, and a church. The modern-day tower was raised in 1888 as a memorial of the historic fortress. The plaque over the entrance reads: “871 – 1871 May the Town Which Stands on This Site Prosper for Another Thousand Years”.
We slowly went back, appreciating the views of Tønsberg. We could also see the white house where we stayed, just to the right of the Cathedral.
It was a great day, and we’ve seen so many interesting things and places!
