Viking Mira cruise review: Exploring Stavanger

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It is, Lars reveals, Norway’s oldest cathedral, as Stavanger was the country’s religious centre in 1100, when it was constructed. Any visitor could see the first half of the…

The famous white wooden houses at Old Stavanger (Gamle Stavanger). Photo / Sarah Pollok

“The sea saved the city of Stavanger three times”. It sounds like the opening line of a Nordic myth or Grimm Brothers tale, but the fact is as true as the ocean is blue, Sarah Pollok writes.

Standing on dark slate cobblestones polished by 900 years of horse hooves, leather shoes and eventually the modern sneakers of visitors to Norway’s oldest city, I marvel at the scene.

It’s a quiet Friday morning and grey clouds ceremoniously give way to blue sky as a Viking cruise ship silently drifts into the harbour. We’re the only ship in town and thus one of the few tours weaving around Stavanger’s iconic White Houses, following the footsteps of the softly spoken Dane, Lars, our local guide for the day.

For history buffs, the historic neighbourhood of 173 18th-century wooden buildings is Northern Europe’s largest collection of old houses. For romantics, these petite laneways and white cottages, complete with vibrant flower boxes and fat hydrangea bushes, are the perfect backdrop for a photo (...or 10).

Despite a major fire in 1860, Lars explains, these houses survived and offer a window into Norwegian life centuries ago. A life where a white house was an obvious sign of wealth, given white paint required lead, a precious and expensive resource. Today, residents and boutique owners must keep the exterior white, but the door is fair game, resulting in a rainbow of pastel hues.

Edging past the modern side of town, with decidedly less charming concrete streets and brutalist architecture, we stroll towards a large, old cathedral that presides over the town square and nearby pier.

It is, Lars reveals, Norway’s oldest cathedral, as Stavanger was the country’s religious centre in 1100, when it was constructed. Any visitor could see the first half of the building is Anglo-Romanesque in style, while the second half is Gothic, due to a rebuild following a fire.

Around 900 years ago, a Norwegian king named…

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