1000 Places To See Before You Die 15 - The Viking Ship Museum, Oslo (Vikingskipshuset på Bugdøy)
This small museum is part of the museum of Cultural History of the University of Oslo and it houses 3 famous Viking Age ships, as well as some other Viking Age finds. The most famous ship on display is the complete Oseberg ship, which was excavated from the largest know ship burial in the world. The museum is built specifically to house the ships and other Viking Age finds from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Arnstein Arneberg won the architectural contest and his building was finished in 1957, the last parts of it delayed due to World War II. The ships were moved as soon as their respective halls were finished and the Oseberg ship moved in in 1926, while the ships from Gokstad and Tune moved in in 1931. As mentioned above the Oseberg ship is probably the most famous item in the museum. It was deposited in a burial mound in 834 AD, but the ship itself is thought to be older than 800 AD. It was excavated in 1904-1905 by the Norwegian ar...