Akershus Fortress was built in 1290 and was used as a military fortress to provide protection to Oslo. It is located right by the bay of Oslo that can oversee any incoming ships. The fortress is now open to public and became a tourist attraction for people visiting from foreign countries. To visit the interior of the fortress requires admission fee, but it is includes as part of Oslo Pass.
We got the Oslo Pass of course and went into the fortress to check it out. The fortress is quite big with many rooms to explore. The first place that the tour took us was to the crypt. The crypt of Akershus Fortress was dark and humid, just how a dungeon feels like. The crypt in the fortress also reminded us the crypt of Winterfell Castle in Game of Thrones. It felt exactly the same. In fact, the entire fortress felt like Winterfell Castle. It was very rustic and made out of stones.
After the crypt, we visited the great room. The decoration was not as fancy as the castles in other part of Europe with gold and silver. It was very simple and clean with not much in there. Even the design of the window was very simple.
As we continue along the tour path, we reached the prayer room. The windows of this room has stain glass, which was quite pretty. The centre of the room has the status of Jesus. This room was also darker than the other ones.
After the interior tour, we walked outside to check out the exterior of the fortress. The fortress kept the canons it used back in the days and we could see the rusts on these canons.
We also went up to the fortress wall and we could see very far to the South. It has a great view from the top of the wall and it really was a perfect spot to build a military base to defend the city.
Overall, it was a good experience but do prepare for some walk at the fortress. The fortress is also accessible by walking from Oslo central station. It only took about 10 minutes to get here. If walking is too much to do, there are also buses and trains that come here. We did also see tour bus that parked outside of the fortress, so there are many options to get here.
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