The Storting (Parliament of Norway)
Parliament almost got a church — MPs voted the first design down for looking too holy, then picked a Swede by 59 votes to 47.
Coming soon on iOS — be first to walk Oslo offline.
Opened 5 March 1866 after decades of wrangling over site and style, the Storting was built so large that the Auditor General, National Archives, and the Mapping Authority moved in to fill the space. On 9 April 1940, parliament abandoned it entirely, holding emergency sessions in a Hamar cinema before retreating to Elverum.
What to look for
- The Langlet facade — the design that narrowly beat a church-like rival in the 1856 competition
- The building's commanding bulk, assembled from twelve combined city lots between the Royal Palace and the East Station
- Its address on Karl Johans gate, the straight boulevard that anchors central Oslo
Karl Johans gate 22 — on the main pedestrian axis, a short walk from Oslo Central Station.
The Storting (Parliament of Norway) is one of 27 sights worth the detour in Oslo, all bundled offline in Voyage GO — download the Oslo pack and it sits on your map with no signal, filling your travel passport the moment you walk past.
More to see in Oslo
- Oslo Opera HouseThe roof is a public plaza — walk straight up the white marble slope and look out over the Oslofjord.
- Munch Museum (MUNCH)Nearly 28,000 works by one artist — Munch left everything to Oslo, and Oslo built a whole museum around it.
- Akershus FortressSeven centuries of sieges, and it never fell once.
- Unity ArenaNorway's largest indoor venue — 25,000 people under one fixed roof, from handball finals to headline concerts.
- Royal PalaceParliament cut its funding mid-build — twice — and it still became Norway's royal seat.
- Oslo CathedralTwo royal weddings, two centuries of state ceremony — Oslo's main church has been at Stortorvet since 1697 and hasn't stopped working since.