Thursday, December 3

Oslo has been Kristiania with Ch

The slippery trail around lake "Sognsvann" forced me to make my daily exercise walk at another area of this beautiful city. I chose the 15km trail from home and around Bygdøy or "Ladegaardsøen" as some of us like to call the old island, now a peninsula because of post-glacial rebound, separating Bestumkilen from Frognerkilen.
In Frognerkilen you can find the Oscarhall castle, built from 1847 to 1852 by the Danish architect Johan Henrik Nebelong for King Oscar I. Oscarshall was sold by King Carl IV to the Norwegian state in 1863, and has been at the disposal of Norwegian kings since.
This photo is taken before 1897 and show Oscarshall from the Frogner Beach, prior to the time when the Capital of Norway was named OSLO.
The origin of the name Oslo has been the subject of much debate. It is certainly derived from Old Norse and was in all probability the name of a large farm at the site of the first settlements in Bjørvika. It is commonly held that Oslo means “the mouth of the Lo river”, referring to an alternative name of the river Alna.
A fire in 1624 destroyed much of the medieval city, and when the city was rebuilt it was moved westwards in order to be nearer the Akershus Fortress. King Christian IV of Denmark and Norway renamed the reborn city Christiania, The city continued to use the old form (Ch instead of K) until 1897, when they also changed to Kristiania (without any formal or official decision).
The second old photo is taken from Oscarshall towards the north, and shows the parts of Frogner that we call Skillebekk to the east, Skarpsno in front at the fjord and Gimle on the top.On my photo of today you may see the large building in the center behind the masts of the sailing boats and recognize the same building on the old photo.

Tomorrow I will give you more photos from Bygdøy.

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