Sights in Tønsberg
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Viking-Era Grave Mounds
Atop the hill in the Haugar district are the Viking-era grave mounds of kings Olav and Sigrød.
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Kongsgården Ruins
In the park off Kongsgaten lie the ruins of Kongsgården, the old Royal Court of King Håkon Håkonsson where the kings of Vestfold were elected.
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Church of St Olav Ruins
Here are the ruins of the medieval Church of St Olav, which dates from 1207, as well as St Olav's monastery and several Viking-age graves. You'll need a lot of imagination to make sense of it all.
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Vestfold County Museum
At the foot of Slottsfjellet (Castle Rock) at the northern end of town is Vestfold County Museum, a five-minute walk northwest of the train station. Highlights include displays on the excavation of the impressive Oseberg Viking ship (now shown in Oslo’s Viking Ship Museum), a collection of historic period-furnished farm buildings, and a section on Tønsberg’s whaling history, including skeletons of both a sperm whale and a blue whale. The latter, measuring 23m long, is the largest whale skeleton on display in the world.
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Tønsberg Castle
The remains of Tønsberg Castle, spread across the 63m-high hill behind the town, was the largest fortress in Norway in the 13th century. In 1503, the Swedes destroyed the fortress and little remains of the castle itself. Nonetheless, the modern (1888), 17m-high Slottsfjellstårnet tower provides a good viewpoint over the ruins. In front of the tower there’s a bronze model of how the castle looked in 1500. Parts of the 600m-long outer wall remain intact, while the extant medieval stone foundations include King Magnus Lagabøte’s Keep, the 1191 Church of St Michael, the hall of King Håkon Håkonsson and various guard towers. The park is always open.
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