Trinigon, Narvik

A very entertaining bus journey (on the Lofotekspressen) via fjord shores, tunnels and bridges got me as far as Narvik for my last night north of the Arctic Circle on this trip.

I did get here soon enough to get a walk in some afternoon sunshine, not that it got the temperature much above zero.

Narvik developed as an all-year-round port in the 19th Century to provide a reliable route for getting iron ore from the Swedish mines onto ships for export. This gave it huge strategic importance in World War II, and the various battles for and around Narvik could fill a substantial military history book. A huge part of the modern town, and the harbour, is dominated by the infrastructure needed to move substantial quantities of ore from trains and onto ships.

The guide books tend to be a bit dismissive of Narvik, essentially suggesting that you would only via visit here either en route to the Lofoten Islands, or en route back into the Swedish Railway network. I think there is a bit more to it than that - I was particularly taken by the large number of statues and monuments around the town.

The Trinigon by Espen Gangvik stands at the south end of the town centre. It is the Norwegian National Moment of Freedom, and was raised by the Norwegian Government to mark the 50th anniversary of the end of World War II.

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