We arrived in this area in August 2002 coming from Sweden. We found a dirt toll road to use so we had an interesting trip into town. At right is a view of the area we came across, with low growing shrubs and a lichen-like ground cover. Above left are some berries we see growing - what are they?

When we pulled into Røros, we were greeted by the view of the old church (completed in 1784) rising above the town, below left.

 When we walked up to the church, we found it is a huge edifice (the fourh largest church in Norway), large enough to seat 1600 people! The seating was strictly by social status with the wealthy mining bosses paying for seats near the altar, while the poor workers sat to the back and above. Røros is an old copper-mining town and the building at the right is the museum which is a reconstruction of the old smelting house.

The first smelting works was completed in 1646 and smelting continued until 1953 when a fire resulted in the smelting being discontinued in Røros and moved to Sweden. The mining history was evident from the massive slag heaps that defined this area of town (left). Jim is standing on the top of the heap, just to give you an idea of their size.

At right is one of the many old log houses for the miners, complete with sod roof. These houses are currently being preserved by local craftsmen. Notice the stone foundation. These small houses were mostly used by the casual laborers, gypsies, musicians, widows and single women with children.

When we rode out the next day, we passed the small town of Tolga (left) and stopped for a photo. We thought it very picturesque with the white hexagonal church, red houses and green fields. This was quite representative of the towns seen in this area.

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