Grotten ( The Grotto):  At the edge of the Palace Park there`s a house situated on top of a grotto. This was originally the home of Henrik Wergeland (writer, most celebrated for his poetry but also a prolific playwright, polemicist, historian, and linguist) from 1841 to 1845. The house was drawn by Wergeland with the assistant from the castle architect Linstow.  At that time, the house (and the castle) was outside of the city.

It was mined stone at the area used at the city’s streets and the Castle Park before the house was built. Instead of filling the hole after mining, Wergeland built a portal and a terrasse above it making a grotto.  Wergeland used the grotto to exhibit all sorts of things he collected like a globe and a figurine with the resemblance of an astronaut.  Today a bust of Wergeland is placed in the grotto.  The grotto is open to public Mai 17th every year.

Grotten is now an honorary residence owned by the Norwegian state