Haakon's Hall - Bymuseet i Bergen

About

Visit the King Hakon’s Hall. Short introductions are offered before you start your tour. Hakon’s Hall is over 750 years old and is packed with history. Through its golden age, decay and resurrection. The hall was built between 1247 and 1261 by King Hakon Hakonsson as a royal residence and banquet hall. This was important to the king as his own coronation ceremony was held in a big boat shed. It apparently rained a lot in Bergen even in the Middle Ages! When the King’s son, Magnus Hakonsson the Lawmender, married the Danish princess Ingeborg in 1261, tables were set for 2,000 persons in three different buildings. According to the sagas, ‘The Kings kept their courts in the stone hall’. At the time, Bergen was Norway’s biggest and most important city, and Hakon’s Hall was the scene of many important national political events.

At a glance

• Typical visit: about 1 hour 30 minutes