Den offisielle reiseportalen for Fredrikstad og Hvaler
Get to know Fredrikstad Fortress – Old Town, its distinctive architecture and history over several centuries! You'll find it here.
Click on the red dots on the map and read about important buildings, places and events in the fortress area.
You also get to this map via QR codes that you scan with your mobile phone outside the fortress.
The digital fortification trail is managed by Forsvarsbygg national fortifications.
The city walk «Along the river in Fredrikstad» winds along the Glomma in the center of Fredrikstad, on the west side of the river. The walk consists of 16 stops, where you can get to know more about historical and central places in Fredrikstad. Here you can read about the Main Square, the Library and the Cicignon district.
1. The Main Square
Stortorvet has been the main town square from its inception around 1870. Stortorvet was the main market for the entire region. Meat, flour, fruit and groceries was the main commodities.
2. Fish market
The oldest marketplace was established in 1850, where fishing boats could sell fresh fish directly from the vessels and later from sales boots and bazaars. The red wooden building and Haans-husgården is built after the city fire in 1837 and 1908.
3. Flower market
From 1933 the square was used mainly for flower trade, where in earlier days it was used for processing timber for export. Ferries to the surrounding islands had their base here. When Litteraturhuset opened its doors in 2013, the area once again became a public square.
4. Damskipsbrygga (Steam boat pier)
Dampskipsbrygga was the port of call for several local steam-boat companies and their onshore offices. The pier was also used for trading hay for a period of time. The old fire station was located at Damp-skipsbrygga until it was moved in 1962.
5. The Kråkerøy bridge & Coal storage
The Kråkerøy bridge and Fredrikstad bridge were open in 1957. The area was formerly inhabited by workshops, piers, sheds and a huge coal storage locally known as «Kølatomta». The area is today home for the apartment complex Nygaard Brygge
6. The Library
The main library was opened in 1926, prior to a sawmilled, named Bingesaga, went bankruptcy. FFK played its first matches here in the early 1900. The building, planned by architects Haral Sund and August Nilsen, is protected by the government.
7. Cicignon
The Cicignon district is named after Johan Caspar von Cicignon, and a small fortress was constructed at the west side in 1677. The fortress was demolished in 1912 to make room for the new customs house. Cicignon is among the best conserved districts in Fredrikstad.
8. The Fortresses
Fredrikstad was fortified in 1663. Ramparts, walls and bastions were built around the town, on the island of Isegran, and on Cicignon, on the river’s west bank. On Isegran we see the mill wheel, a copy of one of the wheels from the mill built in the 17th Century.
9. Ferry and The Kings Road
Since the 16th century the ferry has transported bikes and people across the river. The Kings Road went from the ferry moving north, all the way to Christiania (Oslo). On the east side, the main road went to Halden and Sweden. The ferries stopped transporting cars in 1957.
10. Østfold Centre of Arts (ØKS)
The mansion that houses the Østfold Centre of Arts was originally the private luxury home of 19th century businessman Halvor Bjørnebye. The beautiful park that is landscaped on the old Cicignon fortress glacis was created by the city gardener Moen and city engineer Hofstad in 1918.
11. Church Park
The Church Park is the most stately and historically significant park in Fredrikstad. The park consists of beautiful flowerbeds, hedges, running water and from 1886 a music pavilion.
12. Fredrikstad Domkirke (Cathedral)
The largest church in Fredrikstad was inaugurated as Vestre Fredrikstad Church in 1880. It became Fredrikstad Cathedral with the creation of Borg diocese in 1969. The Cathedral is the only church in the country with a light tower attached.
13. Lykkeberg Mansion
The stately mansion, from 1875, that resides on the hilltop carries the name Lykkeberg (The Hill of Good Fortune). The farm was bought by wealthy timber merchant Julius Nicolai Jacobsen and build to his wife. The house was sold to Fredrikstad municipality in 1932.
14. Town Hall
The New Town Hall was completed in 2002, and contains the local administration, municipality service centre, the great city hall and the cinema. The city council still meets in the old town hall, from 1864, in the Old Town.
15. Kråkerøygaten/Nygaardsgaten
The tiny strip of City Street that is Kråkerøygaten meets the main street Nygaardsgaten in what we can call the «cultural pivot point of Fredrikstad». The city cinema, the Blå Grotte art scene and several coffee houses is located here.
16. Modernism in Fredrikstad
Little is left of the original, small wooden buildings that defined the area, after the city fire in the 1950 and 1960’s. New and modern buildings of glass and concrete were erected in their place, represented by buildings as Bankgården, Hotel City and the Brage-Fram building.
Oldtidsveien – The Ancient Road
Along the main road between Fredrikstad and Skjeberg in the Municipality of Sarpsborg you will find the highest concentration of ancient monuments from the stone bronze, and iron ages: burial mounds stone rings and fortified hamlets. Here you will also find monumental rock carving sites that tell of our forbearers everyday life with human figures, animals, ships and wagons, weapons and tools, together with symbols in lines, circles, sun-crosses and hewn out dish shapes. The road runs through an historical landscape rich in natural beauty, with scenic farms fields and meadows, woodlands and glimpses of glittering sea.
Contact Fredrikstad Tourist Office for more details on the route.
Homlungen and Storesand
Start from the National Park Center in Skjærhalden and follow the blue symbols of the Coastal Path out to Homlungen lighthouse, a listed building. The path continues through rugged terrain to Storesand beach, considered one of the finest bathing spots in Østfold. In the summer season there is a beach café.
Ørekroken
The path continues through the old pine forest in the Prestgårdsskogen Nature Reserve to the next sandy cove, Ørekroken. If you go down to the edge of the beach you will discover many fine shells. It is a lovely place to swim, surf in the waves, let the children play in the sand, or to just stand and take in the sea and horizon.
Rødshue
You can continue to follow the Coastal Path, or perhaps take a little detour down to the mussel banks on the Tobakksbukta beach. Furthest out on Rødshue there are old stone quarries. Hvaler Fine Arts Society and Hvaler Rotary have together developed the area into a sculpture park, a fascinating art and cultural experience. Monuments and installations by internationally renowned artists line the path.
The Coastal Path continues across an exposed headland, passing a large stone cross. At this point, where waves often crash against the land, there is a splendid panorama. The path follows the route of the quarry workers all the way to the loading jetties at Grønne Bakke, which is also an ideal spot to stop and eat your packed lunch.
On the way back to Skjærhalden the path takes us through woodland. In the course of a few metres the landscape changes character from gusty coastland to lofty and sheltered forest.
The walk is ca. 12 km.
Kråkerøy – Here you will find the best cycle tracks in the municipality. Start in Smertulia the open park area about 500 m south of Kråkerøy Bridge. take Solliveien past Kråkerøy School and the Athletics Stadium.
Turn left along cycle lane to Kråkerøy Church and ride south to Lunde. The three old buildings here were once schools the eldest date from 1858. (Side road at Lunde to Ødegårdsstua – a typical Kråkerøy house from 1800`s).
Continue southwards along the cycle lane, cross the main road at the signpost to Tangen, (open air swimming)
Return the same way, but at Enhus take the main road back past Rød School and Ekheim, an impressive property from the timber baron`s era once owned by the Kjærs family. (Today, privat property).
From Ekheim take the gravel road towards Rødsmyra bac to Solliveien.
There are many traces of Edvard Munch’s life story in Fredrikstad. The paternal side of his family can be traced back to Søren Munch, who worked at Isegran. On his mother’s side the Bjølsens were from Kråkerøy and Torsnes. Edvard Munch’s mother, Laura Cathrine Munch, and his aunt, Karen Bjølstad, were born in Storgaten 26.
Munch’s parents were married in Glemmen Church and several branches of the Bjølstad family are buried in Old Glemmen Church.