Gamle Stavanger is a historic area of the city of Stavanger in Rogaland,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

. The area consists largely of restored wooden buildings which were built in the 18th century and at the beginning of the 19th century. In the aftermath of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, a new city plan was created for Stavanger. It included razing most of the old wooden buildings in the city centre and replacing them with new modern structures in concrete. One single voice spoke up against this plan, and today it is recognized that ''Gamle Stavanger'' owes its existence to Einar Hedén (1916-2001), then City Architect of Stavanger. In 1956 the city council voted to conserve part of the old city centre. The area selected for conservation was the one considered the least desirable, consisting of small rundown wooden buildings located on the western side of Vågen, the inner harbor area of Stavanger. This area has a selection of preserved wood houses dating from both the 19th and 20th century. Some of the houses are owned by the municipality, but most are privately owned. Over the years the area has changed from seedy to trendy, and today is considered a choice location for the urban-minded with a sense of history. Gamle Stavanger has grown such that it now covers more than 250 buildings most of which are small, white wooden cottages. The area also includes the Norwegian Canning Museum which displays a typical factory from the 1920s. The Municipality of Stavanger has received several awards for the preservation of Gamle Stavanger. During the Council of Europe's 1975 European Architectural Year, Gamle Stavanger, together with the historic fishing village of

Nusfjord Nusfjord is a fishing village in Flakstad Municipality in Lofoten in Nordland county, Norway. The village lies on the southern shore of the island of Flakstadøya, along the Vestfjorden. In 2017, Uwe Rosenberg designed and published a board ...

in Nordland and the former mining town of

Røros Røros ( sma, Plaassja, ) is a municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Røros. Some of the villages in Røros include Brekken, Glåmos, Feragen, Galåa, and Hitterdalen. The min ...

in Sør-Trøndelag, were identified as examples of how conservation of old buildings may well coincide with use, and how rehabilitation can be done without loss of character. ''World Heritage Site Røros'' (Destination Røros)
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References

Other sources

*Næss, Hans Eyvind (1998) ''Gamle Stavanger'' (Foreningen gamle Stavanger)

External links

Stavanger Museum
{{coord, 58, 58, 22, N, 5, 43, 31, E, type:landmark_source:kolossus-nowiki, display=title Boroughs and neighbourhoods of Stavanger Tourist attractions in Stavanger