St. Hanshaugen
To the southeast of the park is Oslo’s oldest building – Aker Kirke, built around 1100, but restored from ruins around 1860, and then again in the 1950s in a more authentic style. Next to the church is the cemetery Vår Frelsers gravlund, created in 1808 as a result of the great famine and cholera epidemic of the Napoleonic Wars. The nearby area around Damstredet and Telthusbakken is interesting since it retains the small town character of Oslo in the first part of the 19th century.
Bjørvika
In 2008, the Oslo Opera House opened at Bjørvika. Costing and built by Statsbygg, it was designed by Snøhetta. Bjørvika was preferred as a location over Vestbanen. The opera is in size and has a large, slanting roof open to the public. In 2008, the Norwegian Parliament also decided to build the Munch Museum, the Stenersen Museum and the Oslo Public Library at Bjørvika to form a new cultural center.