Around Tromsø: Tromsøbrua & Ishavskatedralen

Saturday, 2 July (Part II)

After dallying around town and visiting the torget (post here), we finally got our planned sightseeing itinerary back on track. Feeling the need to really stretch our legs, we headed for the Tromsøbrua (Tromsø Bridge).

google maps image showing Tromsøbrua … and yes, those little green people are us!

Just over a kilometer (.6 mile) in length, the cantilever bridge crosses the Strait of Tromsøysundet and links Tromsdalen on the Norwegian mainland with Tromsøya Island where Tromsø is located. At the time the bridge went into service (1960), it was the longest in Northern Europe.

Tromsøbrua is a 2-lane bridge with pedestrian walkways on either side.

Pulling out the PB&J sandwiches Mui had prepared for lunch, we munched as we crossed the bridge via the pedestrian walkway. Talk about a take-away lunch! And for dessert — delicious, seedless green grapes with a shared chocolate bar chaser. Stopping frequently, we enjoyed the views of Tromsø from a higher vantage point, thus taking twice as long to cross the bridge than the average walker.

The overcast doesn’t detract from the scenery.

Our destination was Ishavskatedralen (literally Ice Sea Cathedral) — aka the Arctic Ocean Cathedral — aka the Tromsdalen Kirke (Tromsdalen Church). There was no chance we’d miss it as the triangular building was right at the base of the bridge where it connected to the mainland.

Glimpse of Ishavskatedralen and the village of Tromsdalen from the bridge.

zooming in a bit for a closer look.

The photographer caught post-action after taking the above photographs.

The church is designed in the shape of 11 inter-connected, arching triangles that are suggestive of glacial crevasses and auroral curtains. Or so I read; I honestly don’t get the symbolism. But if I really use my imagination, I could perhaps see an iceberg that has calved off from a glacier. It is different, I will admit; and it does stand out from all the other buildings in the area. For those interested, there’s more information here.

Left: Ishavskatedralen from the base of the bridge on the mainland.
Right: The inter-connected arches are evident when you get close to the church.

Paying the admission, we went inside to see the beautiful, 75-foot (23 m) high stained glass window that is one of the reasons why the Arctic Ocean Cathedral has become a tourist attraction. Our timing was good, and we had the place to ourselves for the duration of our visit. No sooner were we out the door, however, the first of several tour busses arrived for the scheduled afternoon concert.

Made of Czechoslovakian crystal, the chandeliers represent hanging ice formations.

Installed in 1972, the stained glass window fills the east-facing gable wall.

Made from Eleven tons of glass, the window depicts the second coming of Christ.

The 35 NOK ($6.50) per person admission was a little steep even if the stained glass window was breathtakingly beautiful. At nearly double that price, the concert would have been a better buy as we would have had the benefit of enjoying the music as well. With limited time in the city, however, we had to make a choice between the concert and the Polar Museum. The latter won out.

View of Tromsø from the Arctic Ocean Cathedral.

So, maybe this stop on today’s itinerary wasn’t a good bargain, but everything has a silver lining if you look for it. Had we not taken the time to go inside Ishavskatedralen, we would have missed the sail-in of the ship that will be taking us on our Arctic voyage.

Two ships had arrived earlier as we were crossing the bridge — Mein Schiff (former Celebrity Galaxy) and Hurtigruten’s Polarlys. This ship was much smaller than either of them, and from a distance, looked awfully like the Silver Explorer. It turns out that it was. My first thought on spying the ship was, “Why is she coming in today; what’s wrong with the ship?” After all, ships don’t usually overnight in port. They come in, they debark one set of passengers, they embark another set of passengers, and they turn right back around and go to sea again.

It is indeed Silver Explorer that is coming into port.

Putting on some speed, we crossed the bridge back to Tromsø, hoping to catch Silver Explorer at Prostneset, the city docks. Hold on ... where did she disappear to? Well, instead of crossing under it as we’d expected, the ship had tied up at Nansenplass (Nansen Plaza) just before the bridge.

At the bottom of Tromsøbrua, we detoured over to the pier, strolled right in, and found a woman with a clipboard who seemed a likely source of information. When she confirmed that the ship was in fact expected in today, we sighed with relief. Apparently, flight schedules for outgoing passengers from Tromsø necessitate an overnight here.

Backtracking a short ways up the bridge gives us a good vantage point to photograph
Silver Explorer even as the passengers disembark to explore Tromsø.

Thus, our concerns allayed, we headed off to what turned out to be a star attraction.