and
Munkholmen Island
DORA 1 is a
German submarine base that housed the
13th U-boat Flotilla during the Second World War occupation of Norway. Today the bunker houses various archives, among them the city archives, the university and state archives. More recently, DORA has been used as a concert venue.
Kristiansten Fortress, built 1681–1684, is located on a hill east of Trondheim. It repelled the invading
Swedes in 1718, but was decommissioned in 1816 by Crown Prince Regent
Charles John. A
statue of Olav Tryggvason, the founder of Trondheim, is located in the city's central square, mounted on top of an obelisk. The statue base is also a
sun dial, but it is calibrated to UTC+1 so that the reading is inaccurate by one hour in the summer. The islet Munkholmen is a popular tourist attraction and recreation site. The islet has served as a place of execution, a
monastery, a
fortress,
prison, and a Second World War
anti-aircraft gun station.
Stiftsgården is the royal residence in Trondheim, originally constructed in 1774 by
Cecilie Christine Schøller. At 140 rooms constituting , it is possibly the largest wooden building in
Northern Europe and has been used by royals and their guests since 1800. A statue of
Leif Ericson is located at the seaside, close to the old Customs Building, the cruise ship facilities and the new swimming hall. The statue is a replica, the original being located at a Seattle
marina. flows through Trondheim with old storehouses flanking both sides of this river. The
Old Town Bridge can be seen on the right side of this panorama.
Shopping Most of Trondheim's city centre is scattered with small speciality shops. However, the city centre's main shopping area is concentrated around the pedestrianised streets
Nordre gate (),
Olav Tryggvasons gate and
Thomas Angells gate even though the rest of the city centre is provided with everything from old, well-established companies to new, hip and trendy shops. In the mid-to-late 1990s, the area surrounding the old
drydock and ship construction buildings of the defunct
Trondhjems mekaniske Værksted shipbuilding company at the
Nedre Elvehavn was renovated and old industrial buildings were torn down to make way for condominiums. A shopping centre was also built, known as Solsiden (The Sunny Side). This is a popular residential and shopping area, especially for young people. Larger multi-mall shopping areas are located in the eastern suburb of Lade-Strindheim along the
Haakon VIIs gate and
Bromstadvegen streets, and in the southern suburb of Tiller (The latter centred around
City Syd). Swedish store chains are widely present throughout the areas, especially in the DIY and clothing store fields, including
IKEA,
Biltema, and
Clas Ohlson.
Nidaros Cathedral The
Nidaros Cathedral and the Archbishop's Palace are located side by side in the middle of the city centre. The cathedral, built from 1070 on, is the most important
Gothic monument in Norway and was Northern Europe's most important Christian
pilgrimage site during the Middle Ages, with pilgrimage routes leading to it from
Oslo in southern Norway and from the
Jämtland and
Värmland regions of Sweden. Today, it is the northernmost medieval cathedral in the world, and the second-largest in
Scandinavia. During the Middle Ages, and again after independence was restored in 1814, the Nidaros Cathedral was the
coronation church of the Norwegian kings.
King Haakon VII was the last monarch to be crowned there, in 1906. Starting with
King Olav V in 1957, coronation was replaced by
consecration. In 1991, the present
King Harald V and
Queen Sonja were consecrated in the cathedral. On 24 May 2002, their daughter
Princess Märtha Louise married the writer
Ari Behn in the cathedral. The
Pilgrim's Route (
Pilegrimsleden) to the site of Saint Olufs's tomb at
Nidaros Cathedral, has recently been re-instated. Also known as St. Olav's Way, (
Sankt Olavs vei), the main route, which is approximately long, starts in
Oslo and heads North, along Lake
Mjøsa, up the valley
Gudbrandsdalen, over the mountain range
Dovrefjell and down the
Oppdal valley to end at
Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim. There is a Pilgrim's Office in Oslo which gives advice to pilgrims and a Pilgrim Centre in Trondheim, under the
aegis of the cathedral, which awards certificates to successful
pilgrims upon the completion of their journey.
Other churches The Lutheran
Church of Norway has 21 churches within the municipality of Trondheim. They are all a part of the
Diocese of Nidaros, which is based in Trondheim at the
Nidaros Cathedral. Many of the churches are several hundred years old, with a couple which were built almost 1,000 years ago. The
Roman Catholic Sankt Olav domkirke is the
cathedral episcopal see of the exempt
Territorial Prelature of Trondheim. Being located across the street from the Nidaros Cathedral, the two of them form an unofficial religious quarter along with a
synagogue, a Baptist church, a
Salvation Army office, and the 8-auditorium
cinema Prinsen kinosenter.
Museums Sverresborg, also named
Zion after
King David's castle in
Jerusalem, was a fortification built by
Sverre Sigurdsson. It is now an open-air museum, consisting of more than 60 buildings. The castle was originally built in 1182–1183, but did not last for long as it was burned down in 1188. However, the
Sverresaga indicates it had been restored by 1197. The Trondheim Science Center () is a scientific hands-on experience center. The
NTNU University Museum (Norwegian: NTNU Vitenskapsmuseet) is part of the
Norwegian University of Science and Technology. There are also a variety of small history, science and
natural history museums, such as the
Trondheim Maritime Museum, the
Armoury, adjacent to the Archbishops's Palace, Kristiansten Fortress, the music and musical instrument museum
Ringve National Museum,
Ringve Botanical Garden, the
Trondheim Tramway Museum, and the
Jewish Museum, co-located with the city's synagogue, which is among the northernmost in the world.
Rockheim (, The National Discovery Center for Pop and Rock) opened at the Pier in August 2010. It is located inside an old warehouse, but characterised by an easily recognisable roof in the shape of a box. "The box" is decorated by thousands of tiny lights that change in a variety of colours and patterns, and is a landmark in the cityscape – especially on dark winter evenings.
Prison Vollan District Jail (
Norwegian:
Vollan kretsfengsel) was a
jail during the
nazi occupation of Norway and was used to imprison both prisoners of war and criminals. Vollan was not considered a
concentration camp. It was closed in 1971 after the opening of Trondheim Prison at Tunga. Trondheim Prison (Norwegian:
Trondheim fengsel) is a prison that belongs to the Northern Region of the
Norwegian Correctional Services. The prison can house 184
inmates. It consists of four main departments: • Nermarka ("Tunga") – closed department • Detention department (no:
Forvaringsavdelingen) at Nermarka • Leira – open division. Through joint positive activities, the individual inmate on certain conditions teaches to be responsible with other people. • division Kongens gt. – halfway house, located in downtown Trondheim.
Attractions The
water park and
public pool Pirbadet is located on the northernmost shore of the Brattøra district, within walking distance of the central station.
Wider urban area Trondheim forms the centre of the
Trondheim Region, and is a common commuting point for work, shopping, and healthcare. Although the official list of
metropolitan regions of Norway defines the region very broadly, the area of two-way commuting where Trondheim residents too would head outwards for transport, shopping, and
upper secondary schools, consists roughly of Trondheim,
Malvik, downtown
Stjørdal (incl.
Værnes), downtown
Melhus,
Skaun, and the lower sections of
Vanvikan in
Indre Fosen. ==Government==