Service Description

For a very long time the island has been used for fortification against both enemy forces and disease. From 1940 to 1992 the island was closed for the public and used as an army base. Today the island is again open for everyone, and a lot of the old barracks and houses have been turned into creative spaces, workshops and galleries that are rented by locally based artists. To begin the tour we will walk across one of the four bridges connecting the island to the mainland. We will continue on towards Småbåthavna where you will see some beautiful examples of traditional wooden boats before we continue up past the museum and up towards the quarantine wall and Bendiksbukta. Bendiksbukta is a lovely bay area, where there has been found evidence of stone-age settlements. From the bay you can also see where the ships carrying disease were forced to quarantine back in the day and from here we will follow a trail towards Kolerabukta, or Cholera Bay where the Cholera Cemetery was. Continuing from Cholera Bay we will, at regular intervals, see evidence of the military activities and fortifications on the island. The island is pretty much hollow inside and full of bunkers, although most of the entrances and underground tunnels have been closed off for safety reasons. Once we get out to the tip of the island facing out towards the ocean, we will visit the lighthouse and make our way up to the top of the island. Here we will have a look at and talk about exactly what happened April 9th 1940 when German forces sailed into the Kristiansand Harbor, and view the gun batteries still in evidence up there. We will be walking along the old parade road on our way back into town and we will stop by Lasaretthøyden. The two yellow buildings were completed in 1804, and were hospital buildings for people in quarantine. The lovely gunpowder storage tower is a remnant of an old fort and was completed in 1697. Today the buildings are rented out for events. From here we will continue down the Parade Road, and make our way back into town where you are welcome to ask your guide for recommendations on what to do next.