The Rose Castle

This one I wasn’t much aware of, before I saw a friend’s photo on SnapChat. After seeing her snap my curiosity was sparked. As staycation is the name of this year’s travel adventure, visiting Roseslottet, or the Rose Castle, in Oslo was a no-brainer. I hadn’t read up on it before going there, so I was quite surprised when I entered. First of all I love the setup! A 250 meter walkway lined with monumental paintings, goes in a spiral, which makes it look like a rose from above. Second, I was so sure this was a sculpture park, have no idea where I had gotten that idea, that I was pretty dumbfounded when I realised paintings are the main ingredient. Paintings are not a huge passion of mine, I lean more towards sculptures and installation art. Taking this into account, I find the most spectacular to be the five golden “sails”, which lights up in the evening. The tallest being 30 meters. Also I love the blue, pink and white Star of the Unborn (De ufødtes stjerne). The centre of the installation, and the end of the “tour”. As you’ll see from the video, it is possible to go inside the blue bulb. A few more sculptures are scattered throughout, but as said, mostly paintings, which size are impressive. With Roseslottet being a memorial of the years Norway was occupied during World War II, this is of course the theme of all the art. It describes itself as both an educational project and an art installation. Vebjørn Sand, who is one of the most famous painters and contemporary artist in Norway, is an integral part of this project, and has done monumental art works like Keplerstjernen (the Kepler Star), which you can see on the way to the airport, Leonardo da Vinci-broen (the Leonardo da Vinci Bridge) south of Oslo, and the open air exhibition Trollslottet (Troll Castle) in 1997.

Roseslottet is far off. More or less “in the woods”. Doing the metro is the only public transportation option that will take you all the way there. It takes about 30-40 minutes from downtown. You get off at the last stop, Frognerseteren, and you can enjoy nice views on the way and from the station platform. Roseslottet is right next to the metro stop. A visit here can be combined with lunch at Frognerseteren or sightseeing Holmenkollen Ski Jump.

Website: roseslottet.no

On the metro