Discover Kvadraturen

Kvadraturen is Oslo’s own little renaissance town! The gridiron streets are chock-full of history and charm, as well as historical sights. Welcome! Explore our selection of recommended sights and tours.

64 sights
7 tours

This is Kvadraturen

Kvadraturen refers to the area bordered by the city’s fortress, Akershus festning, the street called Grensen, and two main squares, Egertorget and Jernbanetorget.

In medieval times, Oslo was on the other side of Bjørvika, in what is now known as Old Town. Most buildings were made of timber, and in 1624 the city was completely destroyed by fire — for the 19th time!

King Christian IV then decided that the city was to be moved to what is now known as Kvadraturen — and to be rebuilt in brick to prevent future fires. The streets would be straight and wide, with clear sight lines — as they remain to this day.

The King named the city after himself. It was called Christiania.

Tours

The term tour refers to a sequence of sights within a single theme. The walking tour will take you from sight to sight in a pre-defined order.

Selected sights

We present 33 different sights in Kvadraturen. Below are some of our recommendations:

1/8 Christiania Torv

View all our 64 sights

History of Kvadraturen

Something unusual happened four hundred years ago. An old medieval city, Oslo, was abandoned, and the city’s inhabitants built an entirely new city. This new city was called Christiania, and it is the part of Oslo’s city centre we now call Kvadraturen.

Read more about the History