On November 29, 2022, in the walls of the Literary House Litteraturhuset in the city of Oslo, an event was held dedicated to the daughter of the Grand Prince of Kyiv Yaroslav the Wise, Queen Elizabeth Yaroslavna of Norway.
The event was organized by the Ukrainian community in Norway "Den ukrainske forening i Norge" with the support of "Stiftelsen Fritt Ord" in cooperation with "Middelalder Oslo, Gamlebyen historielag" and the Embassy of Ukraine in Norway.
The guests of the event were the representatives of the National Reserve "Sofia Kyivska" - the General Director of the Reserve, active member of the UAA, Honored Worker of Culture of Ukraine Nelya Kukovalska and Deputy General Director for Cultural and Educational Activities Kira Petrachek.
The Norwegian side was represented by the famous historian, associate professor of the Department of History of the University of Bergen, doctor of philosophy Sverre Bagge. The event was moderated by the advisor of the Norwegian Helsinki Union, Arve Hansen.
Academician N. Kukovalska made a presentation about Sofia Kyivska and Elizaveta Yaroslavna. The material about the figure of a woman in the Middle Ages was interesting. Who is Elizaveta Yaroslavna? Mr. Sverre told the audience what is known about her from historical sagas. An important moment of the meeting was the discussion about the medieval cities of Oslo and Kyiv.
The participants of the discussion touched upon the significance of the marriage between the Norwegian King Harold Suvory and Princess Elizaveta of Kyiv and its influence on the development of Oslo. The topics of possible future research on the construction of housing by the "log" method on the territory of Russia-Ukraine and Norway were also outlined, as well as the chemical and technological analyzes of building mortars of medieval buildings in Oslo.
The second day of the delegation of the National Reserve "Sofia of Kyiv" in Oslo, November 30, was devoted to official visits. Working meetings were held with Mr. Håkon Glørstad, director of the Museum of Cultural History of the University of Oslo (Historisk museum), and Mr. Jan Biel, curator of the Museum, together with the Embassy of Ukraine in Norway, the Chargé d'Affaires of Ukraine in the Kingdom of Norway, Mrs. Liliya Goncharevich, and the diplomat of the Embassy, Iryna Ryabchuk. Viking ships. At the meeting, important pages of the common history of Ukraine and Norway, possible areas of partnership in scientific research into the colors of smalt and mosaics of Sophia of Kyiv, proposals for organizing joint archaeological research were discussed.
The director of the Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research (Norsk institutt for kulturminneforskning), Ms. Christine Bakken, presented the work of this institution that takes care of Norway's heritage. Possible aspects of future bilateral cooperation on geo-location monitoring of the territories where monuments are located, possible internship of artists-restorers of monumental paintings of Norway in the National Museum "Sofia Kyivska" were discussed.
The meeting at the Ministry of Culture of Norway was focused on familiarization with the system of cultural heritage management in Norway and Ukraine, issues of Norway's financial assistance to Ukraine during the war and in the reconstruction period. The representatives of the ministry were interested in Nela Kukovalska's proposal for the Norwegian translation and publication of the book "Sophia of Kyiv of Volodymyr the Great" by the director of the Saint Sophia Institute, Nadia Nikitenko, doctor of historical sciences.
