County: More og Romsdal fylke.
Altitude: sea level. Population: 40,500.
Postal code: N-6000. Telephone code: 071.
HOTELS. Norge, Kongensgate 27, 131 Grand Hotell, Lovenvoldsgate 8, 70 Havly, R. Ronnebergsgate 4, 70 b. YOUTH HOSTEL Two CAMPSITES.
The busy commercial and port town of Alesund, in western Norway, lies on the islands of Norvoy, Aspoy and Heissa, reaching out into the coastal fringe of small islands or skerries. It is Norway’s principal fishing port, with fish-processing plants, as well as shipyards and clothing factories. After a great fire in 1904 destroyed almost all the town’s old timber houses, it was rebuilt in stone, and still has many Art Nouveau house-fronts dating from that period.
Sunset over Alesund
The two main islands of Alesund are linked by a bridge. On Aspoya are the church (1 909: fine frescoes and stained glass) and the Aquarium. On Norvoya is the town itself, with hotels, the Post Office and the Municipal Museum. The harbour lies between these two islands, facing N and sheltered by Skansen peninsula which projects from Norvoy. On Skansenkai is the dock used by the ships of the Hurtigrute (Fast Coastal Service).
To the E of the town in a beautiful park is a bauta stone (standing stone) 7 m (23 ft) high with a carved effigy of Kaiser Wilhelm II, commemorating the help given by Germany afterthe 1 904 fire. Also in the park is a statue of Rollo, conquerer of Normandy, who came from the Alesund area (this was presented by the town of Rouen in 1 911). E ofthe park sAksla, a hill 1 89 m (620 ft) high, climbed by a steep path, with a fjellstue (mountain hut) at a height of 1 35 m (443 ft) offering a magnificent overall view of the town, the sea and the islands, and SE towards the Sunnmore hills. The hut can also be reached on a road which branches off Borgundvei.
SURROUNDINGS. Many motor-ships travel to the outer islands and the smaller fjords S ofthe town. On the W side of Valderoy (10 minutes) is Skjonghel-leren cave, 130 m (140 yds) long, which was occupied in Neolithic times. On Giske (20 minutes) stands a chapel (probably 12th c.), partly built of
white marble. On the island of Runde, SW of Alesund, is Norway’s most southerly seabird cliff, the nesting-place of some 700,000 birds of 40 different species. It is worth taking the ferry across the Storford from SolevSgen to Festoy (Road 14) for the sake of the magnificent view into the Hjerundfiord.
On a peninsula 4 km (2i miles) E of Alesund is Borgund, with a church founded in the 11th c. and restored to its original form after the 1904 fire, and the open-airSunnmere Museum (old houses, boats and a section devoted to the fishing industry).
Alesund Norway Central Map Photo Gallery
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