Basarene

Basarene wraps three sides of Oslo Cathedral in a curve of untreated red brick along Karl Johans gate and Dronningens gate. Christian Heinrich Grosch, then Oslo's chief architect, set rounded Romanesque Revival arches into the facades. Building began in 1841 and stretched on until about 1859.

The first section opened with 24 stalls for butchers selling meat at the nearby Stortorvet market. Demand kept outgrowing the space, and the row expanded to more than 50 stalls arranged in a semicircle east of the cathedral. The ground slopes, so a staircase ties the sections together, a quirk Grosch said gave the place its picturesque air. A fire watchtower rose nearby in the mid-1850s. Even so, the trade ran short of room, and in the 1870s the city opened further market halls at Youngstorget and Ruseløkkbakken. Demolition plans kept returning, framed as improvements to the cathedral's setting. In 1927 the city council voted against tearing the bazaar down, swayed in part by Harald Hals, the city's planning chief. The idea resurfaced through the 1930s and 1940s and died only after the Second World War. A restoration around 1960 set the worn buildings right.

Today the old stalls have become shops, craft workshops and places to eat. In summer a restaurant sets its tables behind the cathedral. You can spot the blue plaque that marks the site as protected. At the corner of Karl Johans gate and Dronningens gate, a fountain carries a female figure whose artist remains unknown.