Norway is one of the most beautiful countries in the world, but when I think of my time in its capital, Oslo, only one word comes to mind: gray. Gray skies and gray waters; gray buildings and a good deal of gray-looking food; gray expressions on people’s faces and gray rain behind me as I headed west towards the beautiful city of Bergen the day I left.
Without a doubt, the place in Oslo that I am going to write about is mostly gray, due to the stone sculptures that dot its footprint. But that’s where the boring aspect of Vigeland Park ends: an erotic celebration of human sexuality, it is certainly the least boring place in Oslo, and perhaps in all of Scandinavia.
The history of Vigeland park
Vigeland Park’s origins date back to the 1930s, around three decades after Norway and Sweden dissolved their union, giving Norway its independence. Norway had yet to accumulate the oil wealth that currently makes it, by some accounts, the richest nation on the planet and an artist named Gustav Vigeland was nearing the apex, and unfortunately, at the end of his career and life.
In 1939, when Vigeland began building sculptures in a section of Oslo’s Frogner Park that would eventually bear his name, he was most famous for having designed the Nobel Peace Prize Medal. But although Vigeland would be dead by the end of the next decade, he would have already achieved infamy thanks to the massive scale of his masterpiece, known in Norwegian as Vigelandsparken .
Oh, and did I mention that almost every sculpture in the park depicts some kind of nudity or sex?
Sculptures in Vigelands Park
Vigeland Park is home to 212 sculptures, made of bronze and granite, and they cover an area of more than 79 acres. Obviously, you could spend an entire day exploring Vigeland’s celebrations of the human body, but some stand out from the rest.
The most notable erotic sculpture at Vigeland Park is the aptly named Monolith , a 42-foot-tall phallus that is made up entirely of naked men stacked on top of each other, with particular attention to their rear ends. Another famous sculpture in Vigeland Park is Sinnataggen , which depicts a baby who is very angry and very naked.
How to visit Vigeland park
It is easy to get to Vigeland Park from anywhere in Oslo, although I recommend taking public transport to save money (taxis are extortionate in Norway) and time (although you can walk, it will take you at least an hour from most places in the city). town )
To get to Vigeland Park, take the Oslo tram line to the ‘Frogner Plass’ station, from which… well, walk to the huge obelisks made of naked men. Can it really be simpler than that?
One surprising thing about Vigeland Park, which is particularly surprising when you consider the generally exorbitant cost of traveling in Norway, is that entry to the park is completely free. Besides what’s amazing is the fact that the park is open 24 hours a day, which is particularly nice during the summer, when the sun can stay up well after midnight.
