Kvadraturen

Kvadraturen is the area between Akershus Fortress and Grensen, Jernbanetorget and Egertorget. This was King Christian IV's town from the Renaissance. Only a few buildings from the 17th and 18th century can still be seen.

In Kvadraturen you find the square Christiania torv, known for its fountain with a sculpture of a hand pointing to the ground. After the big town fire in 1624, the Danish-Norwegian King Christian IV decided to rebuild the town in this area and name it after himself. He supposedly pointed to this spot and said: "The new town will lie here!"

The area is today known as Kvadraturen ("the quadrature") because of the rectangular street pattern of Christian IV's renaissance town.

Several well-preserved buildings from the 17th century can be seen in Kvadraturen, such as the building that housed Oslo's first town hall, and the city's oldest restaurant, Café Engebret.