History

⛪ Vikings - Utstein Monastery – Silence and Power

On the island of Mosterøy, Utstein Monastery was founded in the 13th century. It is Norway’s only preserved medieval monastery.

Here, Augustinian monks lived by strict routines of prayer, study, and labor in fields and fisheries. Yet the monastery was also a center of power. King Magnus Lagabøte used Utstein as his royal estate, making it a place where politics and religion intertwined.
After the Reformation, it became a manor, but its stone walls still echo with the voices of faith and authority by the sea.

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🕍 Stavanger Cathedral – the City’s Heart

Around 1125, Stavanger Cathedral was begun, and the city grew around it. It is Norway’s oldest cathedral still in continuous use, built in Anglo-Norman style and dedicated to St. Svithun, the city’s patron saint.

The cathedral made Stavanger a bishop’s seat and gave the town its early importance. Through fires, reconstructions, and centuries of change, the cathedral has remained the spiritual and symbolic center of the city. Today it stands not only as a place of worship, but as a monument linking medieval Stavanger to the modern city.

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🐟 The Herring Age – the First Golden Era

In the late 1800s, shoals of herring flooded the fjords, turning Stavanger into the hub of a new industry: canning.

At its peak, more than 70 factories processed and exported sardines. Hundreds of women, known as the sardine ladies, carefully packed the fish into tins. Men operated machines, smoke ovens, and handled shipping.

The tins were decorated with vibrant labels, printed in Stavanger’s own silk-printing houses. Names like King Oscar, Viking Brand, and Neptune carried images of crowns, Viking ships, fjords, and exotic scenes. These labels became art in themselves, spreading Stavanger’s name to Paris, London, and New York.

With the herring came prosperity: homes, schools, churches, and roads were built, and Stavanger grew into Norway’s fourth-largest city. But by the 1950s, the herring shoals collapsed. Factories closed, jobs disappeared, and the city once again faced uncertainty.

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🛢️ The Oil Era – A New Adventure

In 1969, the drill of the Ocean Viking struck oil in the Ekofisk field. Black gold surged from the seabed, and Stavanger became Norway’s oil capital.

Platforms of steel and concrete rose from the North Sea like modern cathedrals. Shipyards, offices, and neighborhoods expanded rapidly, as people from across Norway and abroad came to work.

But the oil adventure carried its cost. The North Sea divers were pioneers who worked in the depths, welding and repairing under extreme conditions. Many never returned, while others were left with lifelong injuries. They are remembered as heroes – and victims – of the oil age.

Oil lifted Stavanger out of decline and transformed it into one of Europe’s wealthiest cities, funding welfare and development for an entire nation.