Norway · 19th century
Norske Løve is the name of a 19th-century fortress built from 1852 to 1859 to protect Karljohansvern naval station at Horten in Norway.
Norske Løve (literally, 'Norwegian Lion') is a reference to the lion on the Coat of Arms of Norway. The fort is still a military area, but is today only used as an administration building for the Norwegian naval officers training school.
The fort was constructed by Baltazar Nicolai Garben. The primary construction material was limestone, reinforced with granite. The fortress structure was fitted with heavy artillery on several floors protected by casemates. It has a moat which can be filled with water and was originally fitted with a circular envelope with 22 open casemates each holding a 3-ton cannon. The fort originally had a complement of 500 men. The open casemates were walled up by the Germans during World War II, but otherwise the fort is largely in its original form.
Text adapted from “Norske Løve Fortress” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Norske Løve Fortress ranks #6,938 of 9,035 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #26 of the 26 mapped in Norway. Founded 1852, it is older than 7% of the atlas's dated landmarks, one of 705 atlas entries founded in the 19th century. 2 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Oslo, 54 km away. See how Norway compares in the castle statistics.
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