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NORWAY | The Fjord Region, Norway Travel Guide
Monday, April 21, 2025
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Rogaland: Stavanger
Rogaland
Rogaland has played an important part in Norway’s history and continues to do so.
It was in Rogaland, during the Viking Age, that Harald Hårfagre, who came from this region, united Norway in the year 872. Hårfagre fought many battles all over the country and won the final one at Hafsfjord in Rogaland. Many other Vikings came from this region and their journeys often started at one of the ports along the coast of this county.
These days, however, Rogaland is mostly known for its oil. Norway is the third-largest oil exporter in the world and Stavanger, the biggest city in Rogaland and fourth-biggest city in Norway, with nearly 100,000 inhabitants, is known as the “oil capital” of Norway.
The oil business has made Rogaland richer and increased the population over the last decades, but the tourists, of course, come for completely different reasons. Most venture outside the city limits such as to the Lysefjord or the Ryfylke area.
Stavanger
Stavanger established itself as the center of commerce for the southern fjord region in the Middle Ages. Trading, fishing and shipping have been the main commercial activities here ever since the city was founded in the 12th century. In the modern era, this was still the case until the 1960s and 1970s, when the oil business gave Stavanger the financial uplift it desperately needed at the time. Oil drilling started in the North Sea in 1966 and Stavanger has been the unofficial oil capital of Norway ever since.
Sightseeing in Stavanger
While in Stavanger there are a few things you shouldn’t miss. The Old Town has one of the best-preserved groups of 18th- and 19th-century wooden houses in Norway and is just a five-minute walk from the city center. The cathedral on Løkkeveien downtown is well worth visiting. It was originally built in the 12th century and, although part of it had to be rebuilt after a fire, it has maintained its original style, which makes it unique among medieval churches in Norway.
Those who want to find out more about the “black gold” that put Stavanger on the map 40 years ago can visit the Norwegian Petroleum Museum on the harbor. Everything from how oil originated on our planet to the technology used on the rigs in the North Sea is explained there.
Last updated December 3, 2010
Posted in Norway | The Fjord Region
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