Kirkeristen, Basarene and Brannvakten
Dronningensgate 27
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Photo: Tove Solbakken / Byantikvaren
A part of the tour The story of Christiania
Kirkeristen, with its bazaar stalls and the old firewatch tower, frames the Church of Our Saviour nicely, but this was built long after the church was erected. The facilities were designed by Christian H. Grosch and erected between 1840 and 1856.
Photo: Thorleif Wardenær / Oslo byarkiv
The area behind the church is called Kirkeristen, which translates into "the church cattle-grid". The cattle-grid was put there to keep cattle away from the cemetery that used to be behind the church. In the semi-circular bazaar stalls, there were butcher shops. At one end of the neo-gothic style complex, is a fire station, build in 1855-56. The tower was for drying hoses, not for watching for fires, as one would think. The lookout was in the adjacent church tower.