Ravnedalen is a park in the municipality of

Kristiansand Kristiansand is a city and Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Agder county, Norway. The city is the fifth-largest and the municipality is the sixth-largest in Norway, with a population of around 116,000 as of January 2020, following th ...

Agder Agder is a counties of Norway, county () and districts of Norway, traditional region in the southern part of Norway and is coextensive with the Southern Norway region. The county was established on 1 January 2020, when the old Vest-Agder and Au ...

county,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. The part is located in the borough of

Grim GRIM (Groupe de recherche et d'improvisation musicales, roughly translated Group of Research and Musical Innovation), was a non-profit organization for improvised and experimental music. The GRIM was based at the Montévidéo, a cultural centre in ...

, north of the centre of the city of

, just to the northeast of the

Baneheia Baneheia is a recreational area in the municipality of Kristiansand in Agder county, Norway. The park is mostly known at the national level from the Baneheia case as the scene of a notorious murder of two girls ages 8 and 10 that took place in 200 ...

recreation area. The park was constructed from 1874–1878 by military soldiers under the command of Colonel, later Major General,

Joseph Frantz Oscar Wergeland Joseph Frantz Oscar Wergeland (17 November 1815 – 19 August 1895) was a Norway, Norwegian military officer, cartographer and skiing pioneer. Personal life Wergeland was born in Kristiansand, Christianssand and grew up at Eidsvoll, Eidsvol ...

History

Ravnedalen was the former

billet In European militaries, a billet is a living-quarters to which a soldier is assigned to sleep. In American usage, it refers to a specific personnel position, assignment, or duty station to which a soldier can be assigned. Historically, a billet w ...

ing area called ''Grimsmoen'', which had room for about 1,200 soldiers. In the 1860s, the military camp was moved to '' Gimlemoen''. There were plans for using the old camp area as a rifle range, but Colonel Wergeland protested and insisted that the area would be perfect for a pleasure garden. In 1872 ''Byselskabet'', where Wergeland was a chairman, applied for fundings, and the park was constructed during 1874–1878, by soldiers with spades instead of weapons.

Construction

The park was constructed as a romantic garden, in a valley with dramatic cliffs and waterfalls. A dam fointaine was built with natural pressure support from the nearby lake Baanetjønn. The garden has open areas for public arrangements like concerts, gatherings and festivals. The former gardener house is today used as a café. There used to be

ape Apes (collectively Hominoidea ) are a superfamily of Old World simians native to sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia (though they were more widespread in Africa, most of Asia, and Europe in prehistory, and counting humans are found global ...

s and

peacock Peafowl is a common name for two bird species of the genus '' Pavo'' and one species of the closely related genus '' Afropavo'' within the tribe Pavonini of the family Phasianidae (the pheasants and their allies). Male peafowl are referred t ...

s, while today ducks and swans dominate the lakes. Some of Norway's largest

spruce A spruce is a tree of the genus ''Picea'' ( ), a genus of about 40 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal ecosystem, boreal (taiga) regions of the Northern hemisphere. ''Picea'' ...

trees, planted around 1875, are found in the park. Exotic plants were imported and planted, like

rhododendron ''Rhododendron'' (; : ''rhododendra'') is a very large genus of about 1,024 species of woody plants in the Ericaceae, heath family (Ericaceae). They can be either evergreen or deciduous. Most species are native to eastern Asia and the Himalayan ...

magnolia ''Magnolia'' is a large genus of about 210 to 340The number of species in the genus ''Magnolia'' depends on the taxonomic view that one takes up. Recent molecular and morphological research shows that former genera ''Talauma'', ''Dugandiodendr ...

mimosa ''Mimosa'' is a genus of about 600 species of herbs and shrubs, in the mimosoid clade of the legume family Fabaceae. Species are native to the Americas, from North Dakota to northern Argentina, and to eastern Africa (Tanzania, Mozambique, and ...

yew Yew is a common name given to various species of trees. It is most prominently given to any of various coniferous trees and shrubs in the genus '' Taxus'': * European yew or common yew (''Taxus baccata'') * Pacific yew or western yew ('' Taxus ...

and

cypress Cypress is a common name for various coniferous trees or shrubs from the ''Cupressus'' genus of the '' Cupressaceae'' family, typically found in temperate climates and subtropical regions of Asia, Europe, and North America. The word ''cypress'' ...

Culture

In the 1880s and 1890s the area was used for public feasts. Today, Ravnedalen is one of Kristiansand's cultural sites, where concerts and other arrangements are held regularly. The location has a capacity of 5,000 spectators in front of the outdoor stage. Gustav Lærum's 1917 bronze statue of Wergeland is located in Ravnedalen. The granite rock faces that form the backdrop of the park is a popular venue for rock climbers. Ravnedalen has about 70 established climbing routes. The selection of routes spans several grades and comprise bolted, partially bolted and traditionally protected climbs.

References

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External links

Homepage in Norwegian, including concert eventswww.visitkrs.no Ravnedalen Valley Nature Park
Parks in Norway Tourist attractions in Kristiansand Geography of Kristiansand Tourism in Kristiansand