Mo i Rana's old town

Moholmen is Mo i Rana's old town just outside the city centre. A stroll around here is like a trip back in time, away from our modern urban lives. The buildings in Moholmen date back to the 17th century, and the area acts as a living museum of the era before industry arrived in the town.

Mo i Rana Church

Mo i Rana Church is the oldest building in town. Built in 1724, it's made of wood and has 400 seats. The church was built on the initiative of Thomas von Westen, a Norwegian priest and missionary who worked among the Sami.

Numerous victims of World War II are buried in the graveyard, which receives visitors from the entire world in search of relatives. The cemetery also contains a Monument in memory of fallen Soviet prisoners from World War II.

The Man from the Sea

The Man from the Sea (Havmannen) is a granite stone sculpture by the English artist Antony Gormley. It's placed in the sea close to the town. The sculpture is 11 metres tall, weighs 60 tonnes, and according to Lonely Planet - Forever up to his knees in water, turns his back on the town and gazes resolutely out over the fjord.

The sculpture was created and placed in the end of the fjord in 1995 as part of Artscape Nordland. The artist originally envisaged the sculpture being created in steel, based on the traditional steel industry which was one of the pillars of industrial Mo i Rana, and placed in the fjord to illustrate the sharp contrasts between nature and industry.