Fishmarket in Bergen

The Fishmarket in Bergen is a low, glass-walled pavilion huddled against the Vågen harbor, distinguished by the scent of brine and the crates of ice-packed salmon piled near the water. Merchants have bartered for the day's catch on this precise stretch of cobblestone since the thirteenth century. It began as an open-air meeting point for fishermen arriving from the coast to trade with townspeople. Legend says that by the sixteen hundreds, disputes over pricing here were settled with knives before authorities intervened.