Vigeland Sculpture Park, Oslo

One of my favourite places in Norway’s capital, Oslo, is Vigeland Sculpture Park, located within the city’s Frogner Park.

It contains more than 200 sculptures by Gustav Vigeland (1869–1943) in bronze, granite and iron, including The Angry Boy (Sinnataggen in Norwegian, pictured above), The Monolith (Monolitten, title picture) and The Wheel of Life (Livshjulet). His work represents the cycle of human life and all of its emotions.

The sculpture park is Gustav Vigeland’s life work of more than 40 years, although much of it wasn’t installed until 1940. The starting point for the park is Vigeland’s Fountain (above), which was originally meant to be placed in front of the Norwegian Parliament. However, in 1924 the city council agreed that the sculptor’s monumental Fountain should be erected in Frogner Park.

Vigeland was also responsible for the design and architectural outline of the park, which is one of Norway’s top tourist attractions with more than one million annual visitors.

Next to the park is the Vigeland Museum, featuring Vigeland’s early works and portraits, as well as plaster models for the sculptures in Vigeland Park.

You can reach the park from the city centre by tram or bus to the front gate, or by metro to Majorstuen Station. The park is free to enter and open all year round, 24 hours a day.