Kirkenes
Kirkenes is the centre in the municipality of
Sør-Varanger in the county of
Finnmark,
Norway. Situated by Bøkfjorden near the border of
Russia, the town has about 6000 inhabitants, with about 500 being relatively recent Russian
immigrants. Tourist attractions include Grenselandsmuseet (The Border Country Museum), which shows the history of war and peace along the Norwegian-Russian border,
Sami art exhibitions by the artist John Savio and a history of the
mining industry in the area.
Kirkenes was one of the most bombed towns during WWII (reportedly, second after Malta), with 320 air attacks and more than one thousand alarms. 13 houses were left in October 1944.
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