"Gamlebyen" Fredrikstad Things to Do Tip by Henrik_rrb

The old town of Fredrikstad is situated a bit outside the new city. Easiest would be to go there with car, or by boat over the river from the new city center.

It's quite big village, where there nowadays is a mix of old building like the fort, and new modern shops. The later one made at least me a bit disappointed, as I was expecting to see everything from very early years.

The first part of Gamlebyen was built in 1567, after Swedish troops had burnt down the village that were located there earlier (sorry guys!). It was the danish king, then also king of Norway, Fredrik II that allowed the citiziens to build a city closer to the river, to get better protection from the enemies. And it's also from his name as the city Fredrikstad has got its name, meaning "Fredrik's city".

Unfortunately for Fredrik and the villages was the Swedes soon there again, and during the 1600-eds the king decided to built a fort out of the village. It was done and built in 1663, and the walls from the fortress is still there around the city. Including the canons.

The fortress scared off the swedes for a while, but instead the village burnt up by itself, since most inhabitants couldn't afford to build there houses in stone, but instead in tree.
That's why today there are no houses still there from the first hundred years.

I took a walk through the village for thirty minutes. Enough, although I would have liked to stay a bit longer. Not so much to see maybe, but it's a nice calmness in the village.

Every saturday during the summer there is a freemarket in the Gamlebyen.

Directions: Just follow the signs for "Gamlebyen".