Wednesday Walk Challenge : Walking along the Promenade in Kristiansand, Norway

This week's Wednesday Walk goes along most of the Promenade in Kristiansand. The section called "The Promenade" covers a distance of almost 2.8 kilometers. Not a long walk, but you can continue along the section that goes further past the harbor. It's November, autumn and cool temperatures. But on this particular day it was sunny. A great afternoon to go for a walk.

I started my walk after crossing the bridge you can see on the photo above. Then I followed the route marked in red, on the map. The map shows the city center and the oldest part of town. Kristiansand was founded in 1641 by the Danish-Norwegian king Christian IV. The name of the city was originally Christian Sand. Named after the king and the fact that the city was founded on sand / sandy beach. Along the river Otra to the right side of the bridge, you find what is known as "Posebyen" - Old Town - which has wooden houses dating back to the 1700 and 1800s. This is the largest collection of this kind in Northern Europe. To the left you will find one of the newest housing projects. As you can see on the map, Kristiansand was founded according to a square grid pattern. Each of the four sides measures 1 kilometer.

I stayed to the left and walked along the river Otra to the area called Tangen. This is where Otra meets the sea. At the time Kristiansand was founded, Tangen was just sand. Since the foundation, there has been fortifications and cannon positions, shipbuilding, gunboats during the Napoleonic War (1807-14). Several different industries have been established here, only to later move out of the city. The place has completely changed.

Bystranda

After turning «the corner» where the river and the sea meets, I walked passed the residential area. Except for a school, the whole are called Tangen is now a residential area. These flats are not cheap either. Bystranden was probably part of the sandy point called Tangen. Before the city was founded the sandy beach covered the whole shore line. Definitly a popular beach for the residendent living at Tagen and those who live in the city center.

Since Kristansand is a coastal city, there are lots of natural harbours and anchorages, including guestharbours. The walk from Tangen to Odderøya took me passed several harbours for small boats.

My next stop is Christiansholm Fortress. Beautiful and ofcourse strategely placed to keep an eye on approaching ships. It was built between 1658 and 1672, by king Christian IV. The fortress was part of his defense plan for Kristiansand. The city has had extensive fortifications that made it a strategically important city, regardless of whether it was war or peacetime.

The fortress is a tower fortress and has a diameter of 35 meters, built of stone. If you go inside the gate you see several old cannons positioned so that they can fire shots towards the sea. The walls of the tower are about 5 meters thick. When inside you can feel the cool rawnes of the stone. The fortress is in use today for cultural events. I have been here many times. It forms a nice frame for all kind of events.

Right after the fortress, you will find the guestharbour. During the summer season you will hardly find a place for your boat. The place is filled with activity and life.

Odderøya in the background

The last stretch before I have to «round» a corner again, shows the guesthabour on the other side of the building housing toilet facilities etc. At this corner there is a bridge leading to the island called Odderøya. This is where The Promenade ends.

Kristiansand is one of the major cities in Norway. It is and has always been an important port city. It is strategically located on the Skagerrak, so it has been important for shipping, but also important militarily and as a garrison city. In addition, the city has ferry connections that make the city a gateway to the Continent. I allways travel with the ferry when I go to Denmark. I did continue to ferry terminal, but the sun had now almost set behind the horizon and the beautiful light disappeared. So I turned back home.