North Cape (Norwegian: Nordkapp; Northern Sami: Davvenjárga) is a cape on the northern coast of the island of Magerøya in Northern Norway. The cape is in Nordkapp Municipality in Finnmark county, Norway. The European route E69 motorway (highway) has its northern terminus at North Cape, which makes it the northernmost point in Europe that can be accessed by car and makes the E69 the northernmost public road in Europe. The plateau is a popular tourist attraction. The cape includes a 307-metre-high cliff (1,007 ft) with a large flat plateau on top, where visitors, weather permitting, can watch the midnight sun and views of the Barents Sea to the north. North Cape Hall, a visitor centre, was built in 1988 on the plateau. It includes a café, restaurant, post office, souvenir shop, a small museum, and video cinema.
The North Cape was named by the Englishman Steven Borough, captain of the Edward Bonaventure, which sailed past in 1553 in search of the Northeast Passage.[1]
Early tourismThe North Cape became a popular tourist destination during the last decades of the nineteenth century, especially after King Oscar II's visit in 1873.[2] Regular coastal steamer routes from Germany to Northern Norway established in this period facilitated these visits, and Thomas Cook & Son began arranging tours to the destination as early as 1875.[2] Tourists who climbed the cape would often do so using a path equipped with wired ropes from Hornviken.[2] They would often celebrate the visit with the writing of postcards, so-called "Cape cards", gazing at the midnight sun.[2]
Monuments and buildingsA granite column was erected commemorating the visit of King Oscar II of Norway and Sweden in 1873 and the visit of German Kaiser Wilhelm II (in 1891) was also marked with a memorial.[2] In 1891–92, an octagonal wooden building was erected on top of the cape, later named "Stoppenbrinck's" (or "Stoppenbrink's") "Champagne Pavilion".[2]
World War II
Contemporary map of the Battle of North CapeIn 1943, the Battle of the North Cape was fought in the Arctic Ocean off this cape, where the German battleship Scharnhorst was eventually sunk by gunfire from the British battleship HMS Duke of York and torpedoes from the Norwegian destroyer HNoMS Stord, and other ships of the British Navy.[citation needed]
Road accessA road to the North Cape was first built in 1956.[2]
Admission fee courtcaseAs of Q3 2022, the justice system has decided that money will not be charged for parking [on the parking lot] at North Cape; the government has won the case in the appellate court also; the defendant has appealed to the supreme court, as of Q3 2022.[3] (The courtcase started in 2021.[4][5])
As of 2022, admission to North Cape visitor centre cost 310 kr per adult [16 years and older] - and 90 for child between 7-years old and 15-years old.[6][7] Often there is fog (since the plateau is above the common cloud base), which obscures the view. There is no discount for this situation, but the full price ticket is valid for multiple entries within 24[8] hours.
In 2000, and again in 2011, the Norwegian Ministry of the Environment responded to pressure from interest groups and asked Nordkapps VEL, the company that maintains the site, to reduce the admission fee to the plateau.[7] Nordkapps VEL responded that the 8,000 daily visitors and distant location places great demands on the operations, maintenance, and security of the facilities and natural features of the large site.[7] Visitors arriving by foot, bicycle, or other non-motorized vehicles are nowadays offered free entrance.[9]
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