A busy industrial town, Skien Norway is situated on the northern bank of the Skiensely. It is in terms of functionality the administrative centre of Telemark County. One of its attractions is the towns’ church which was built in 1894 and has two tall spires. One has to move to the south of the church to view one fine monument in honor of the great Norwegian dramatist Henrik Ibsen who was born in the city. The Telemark Canal is quite amazing stretching over a length of 105 kilometers from Skien to Dalen. It is an amazing piece of construction hewn out of rocks by hand almost over 100 years ago. In fact, when its construction was complete most Europeans described it as the “eighth wonder of the world”.
The Danish Crown granted formal commercial town status to Skien in 1358. The archaeological finding of a carving of the Skien animal indicates the founding of Skien Norway to before 1000 A.D. In 1886 a fire broke out which destroyed the town’s layout. The current town layout was fixed after that last town fire. The Solum and Gjerpen municipalities were merged together with Skien town in 1964 expanding the Skien municipality. The Telemark Museum and the Venstop Farm make up the additional attractions that the municipality has to offer.
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