{"id":36855,"date":"2020-02-12T10:22:36","date_gmt":"2020-02-12T09:22:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.riksantikvaren.no\/verdensarv\/roros-bergstad-og-circumferensen\/"},"modified":"2025-03-28T15:32:24","modified_gmt":"2025-03-28T14:32:24","slug":"roros-bergstad-og-circumferensen","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/riksantikvaren.no\/en\/world-heritage\/roros-mining-town-and-the-circumference\/","title":{"rendered":"R\u00f8ros Mining Town and the Circumference"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/2″]

World heritage<\/span><\/p>

R\u00f8ros Mining Town and the Circumference<\/h1><\/div>

R\u00f8ros Mining Town and the Circumference is linked to the copper mines, established in the 17th century and exploited for 333 years until 1977.<\/p><\/div>[\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″]\n\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\"R\u00f8ros<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t
R\u00f8ros Kjerkgata in R\u00f8ros<\/strong> on a cold winter\u2019s day. Foto: Trond Taugb\u00f8l, the Directorate for Cultural Heritage<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t<\/figure>[\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”2\/3″][vc_column_text]The site comprises the Town and its industrial-rural cultural landscapes; Femundshytta, a smelter with its associated area; and the Winter Transport Route. Completely rebuilt after its destruction by Swedish troops in 1679, R\u00f8ros contains about 2000 wooden one- and two-storey houses and a smelting house.<\/p>\n

Many of these buildings have preserved their blackened wooden fa\u00e7ades, giving the town a medieval appearance. Surrounded by a buffer zone, coincident with the area of privileges (the Circumference) granted to the mining enterprise by the Danish-Norwegian Crown (1646), the property illustrates the establishment and flourishing of a lasting culture based on copper mining in a remote region with a harsh climate.<\/p>\n

R\u00f8ros was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1980. The Circumference was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2010.[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

Outstanding Universal Value<\/h2>\n

Brief synthesis<\/h3>\n

R\u00f8ros Mining Town and the Circumference consist of three sites within the Circumference, i.e. the area of privileges awarded by the Danish-Norwegian King to R\u00f8ros Copper Works in 1646.<\/p>\n

The town and the cultural landscapes cover a large continuous area which includes the landscape surrounding the mining town, the urban agricultural areas, and the most important mining landscapes where agricultural practices and copper work operations were carried out.<\/p>\n

Femundshytta is a largely relict landscape which includes the industrial cultural landscape with the remains of a smelter, water management systems, and the community that grew up around them. The Winter Transport Route is made up of a sequence of lakes, rivers, and creeks in an almost untouched landscape. It was used from November to May.<\/p>\n

R\u00f8ros Mining Town, established in 1646, is unique. It is built entirely of wood, and interlinked with a cultural landscape that shows in an outstanding and almost complete manner how mining operations, transportation, and the way of life had to be adapted to the requirements of the natural environment \u2013 the mountain plains, the cold climate, the remote location without roads and with marginal growth conditions for forests and agriculture. On this basis a unique culture developed that has partly disappeared, but an outstanding testimony of the existence of which has been preserved.<\/p>\n

Criterion (iii):\u00a0From the time copper ore was found in the mountains at R\u00f8ros in 1644 until the copper works went bankrupt in 1977, with German mining technology as a starting point, employing German, Danish, Swedish immigrants, and Norwegian nationals,, a unique culture developed to extract the valuable copper in a remote and sparsely inhabited area. Today there is no mining in the area, but R\u00f8ros Mining Town and the traces of mining, smelters, transport, and water management systems bear unique witness to the adaptation of technology to the requirements of the natural environment and the remoteness of the situation.<\/p>\n

Criterion (iv):\u00a0R\u00f8ros townscape and its related industrial and rural landscapes, with their interlinked industrial activity and domestic and agricultural accommodation within an urban environment, illustrate in an outstanding manner how people adapted to the extreme circumstances in which they had to live and how they used the available indigenous resources to provide shelter, produce food for their sustenance, and contribute to the national wealth of the country. Technologically, their buildings and installations evolved through the use of available indigenous materials to functionally satisfy the combined approach of mining and agrarian practices whilst at the same time accommodating the consequences of dealing with extreme climatic conditions.<\/p>\n

Criterion (v):\u00a0R\u00f8ros Mining Town and the Circumference constitute a totality that is an outstanding example of traditional settlement and land-use. The various activities that have been carried out in the area constitute a coherent and interdependent unit. These activities have shaped a cultural landscape that provides a unique picture of how the mines and the mining town functioned as a complex and at times vulnerable system that verged on the limits of what was possible in an inhospitable environment with a harsh climate.[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

View photos of R\u00f8ros Mining Town<\/h2>\n

[\/vc_column_text]\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\"R\u00f8ros<\/a>
R\u00f8ros Church.<\/strong>
Foto:<\/strong> Asgeir Spange Brekke, the Directorate for Cultural Heritage<\/div><\/div>
\"Finnegaarden<\/a>
Finnegaarden in R\u00f8ros<\/strong> became a listed building in 2018.
Foto:<\/strong> Linda Herud, Cultural Heritage Fund<\/div><\/div>
\"Overview.<\/a>
Overview.<\/strong> R\u00f8ros town centre.
Foto:<\/strong> Arve Kjersheim, the Directorate for Cultural Heritage<\/div><\/div>
\"The<\/a>
The World Heritage site<\/strong> in R\u00f8ros features diverse architectural structures.
Foto:<\/strong> Trond Taugb\u00f8l, the Directorate for Cultural Heritage<\/div><\/div>
\"Europa<\/a>
Europa Nostra.<\/strong> Outbuildings with R\u00f8ros Church in the background.
Foto:<\/strong> Trond Taugb\u00f8l, the Directorate for Cultural Heritage<\/div><\/div>
\"Photo<\/a>
R\u00f8ros in 1940.<\/strong> Today, R\u00f8ros features on the UNESCO World Heritage List and is considered one of Norway\u2019s most important cultural heritage sites. The mining town drew the attention of the cultural heritage authorities early on, and eight R\u00f8ros houses were granted listed status as early as 1923. Dag Myklebust dedicates an entire chapter to the preservation of R\u00f8ros in his book.
Foto:<\/strong> Halvor Vreim<\/div><\/div>
\"Roykskadehaga.<\/a>
Roykskadehaga.<\/strong> From the beautiful heritage landscape featuring slag mounds near R\u00f8ros.
Foto:<\/strong> Lisen Roll, the Directorate for Cultural Heritage<\/div><\/div>\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t
<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t
<\/div>\n\t\t\t
<\/div>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t[vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

Integrity and authenticity<\/h3>\n

The nominated property contains all elements that convey the Outstanding Universal Value of the property and its most relevant features present a high or good level of integrity. The mining landscape is relict in nature, but almost no transformations or encroachment occurred after the closure of the copper works.<\/p>\n

The authenticity of the property is expressed in almost all its aspects and features. All the remains bear credible witness to the history and development of the site. This is also reinforced by the rich archive documenting the copper company\u2019s history.[\/vc_column_text][vc_gmaps link=”#E-8_JTNDaWZyYW1lJTIwc3JjJTNEJTIyaHR0cHMlM0ElMkYlMkZ3d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbSUyRm1hcHMlMkZlbWJlZCUzRnBiJTNEJTIxNHYxNTgxOTQwNTc0MDUzJTIxNm04JTIxMW03JTIxMXNaN2JVN0NoeWVpMEFIakhMcEpDLTRRJTIxMm0yJTIxMWQ2Mi41NzcwNTU3MzE4MDY0NyUyMTJkMTEuMzg5OTgwNzcyMjA5JTIxM2YyOTEuODczMjMlMjE0ZjAlMjE1ZjAuNzgyMDg2NTk3NDYyNzQ2OSUyMiUyMHdpZHRoJTNEJTIyNjAwJTIyJTIwaGVpZ2h0JTNEJTIyNDUwJTIyJTIwZnJhbWVib3JkZXIlM0QlMjIwJTIyJTIwc3R5bGUlM0QlMjJib3JkZXIlM0EwJTNCJTIyJTIwYWxsb3dmdWxsc2NyZWVuJTNEJTIyJTIyJTNFJTNDJTJGaWZyYW1lJTNF” title=”Explore R\u00f8ros”][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

Protection and management requirements<\/h3>\n

The most important legislative instruments that help to protect and manage R\u00f8ros Mining Town and the Circumference are the Cultural Heritage Act (1978) and the Planning and Building Act (1985).<\/p>\n

The management framework for R\u00f8ros Mining Town and the Circumference is embodied in a Statement of Intent which has been signed by all responsible bodies for the nominated property.<\/p>\n

The basis for management relies on the existing Norwegian legal framework, the planning instruments in force, the administrative and private bodies responsible for the property and sources of funding for heritage conservation, agricultural activities in heritage areas, productive and marketing activities based on cultural and natural heritage, and sustainable tourism. The management framework contains an action programme including short- and long-term actions.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/3″][vc_gmaps link=”#E-8_JTNDaWZyYW1lJTIwc3JjJTNEJTIyaHR0cHMlM0ElMkYlMkZ3d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbSUyRm1hcHMlMkZkJTJGZW1iZWQlM0ZtaWQlM0QxZ281UFZjcHYyeFMydno5MC1uNlpVWmVwVlB5cmxUTjMlMjZobCUzRG5vJTIyJTIwd2lkdGglM0QlMjI2NDAlMjIlMjBoZWlnaHQlM0QlMjI0ODAlMjIlM0UlM0MlMkZpZnJhbWUlM0U=”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/2″][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”2\/3″][vc_column_text]The site comprises the Town and its industrial-rural cultural landscapes; Femundshytta, a smelter with its associated area; and the Winter Transport Route. Completely rebuilt after its destruction by Swedish troops in 1679,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"parent":36492,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":"","algolia_no_indexing":false,"boosted":0},"coauthors":[495,444],"class_list":["post-36855","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/riksantikvaren.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/36855","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/riksantikvaren.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/riksantikvaren.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riksantikvaren.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riksantikvaren.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36855"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/riksantikvaren.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/36855\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":79979,"href":"https:\/\/riksantikvaren.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/36855\/revisions\/79979"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riksantikvaren.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/36492"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/riksantikvaren.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36855"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riksantikvaren.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=36855"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}