Alta Museum - World Heritage Rock Art Centre

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Alta Museum - World Heritage Rock Art Centre is a Museum at Altaveien 19, 9518 Alta, Norway

The Alta Museum, the World Heritage Rock Art Centre, sits on the shore of the Alta fjord in Finnmark, the far north of Norway. It exists to protect one thing above all. Scattered across the rocks here are thousands of prehistoric carvings, pecked into the stone by hunter-gatherers over a span of some 5,000 years, from around 5000 BC onward, and in 1985 they became Norway’s first cultural World Heritage Site. Wooden walkways lead visitors out among the open-air panels, where figures of reindeer, elk, bears, boats, fishermen and dancing people bring the ancient world vividly to life. Some carvings are picked out in red to make them easier to see. Indoor galleries set the art in context and cover the wider history of Finnmark, from the Sámi and the salmon and slate industries to the burning of the region in the Second World War. Alta lies at around 70°N, deep in the auroral zone, and the town has its own place in the story of the northern lights, home to the world’s first permanent aurora observatory, built on a hill above here in 1899.

WebsitePhone: +47 41 75 63 30

Where to find Alta Museum - World Heritage Rock Art Centre?

69°56'50"N, 23°11'11"E

Aurora hunting in Alta?

The aurora season here runs from September to March, with the best chances of seeing the Northern Lights in October, February and March. Explore Alta Museum - World Heritage Rock Art Centre by day, then head outside after dark to look for the aurora.

What do people think of Alta Museum - World Heritage Rock Art Centre?

  • 4.7

  • The Alta Museum exhibits finds related to the culture that created the petroglyphs and exhibitions about the Sami people. In 1993 the Alta Museum received the honorary title of European Museum of the Year.

    Альта Музей экспонирует находки, связанных с культурой, которая создала петроглифы и экспозиции с саамским народом. В 1993 году музей Альты получил почётное звание - Европейский музей года.

    Vladislav S5 January 2015

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