The Norwegian Olympic Museum was officially opened in 1997 in the city of Lillehammer. It is the only museum of its kind in the whole of Northern Europe. It presents the complete history of the Olympic Games from 776 BC right up to the present day. The permanent exhibition, divided into three sections, contains over 7,000 exhibits.
The historical hall is dedicated to the Olympic Games, held in Greece at the sacred Olympia, as attested by ancient written sources. In 393 BC, after Greece adopted Christianity, the games were banned, and Olympia lost its importance in the life of the local population, and in time it disappeared disappeared as a result of natural disasters. It wasn't until a millennium and a half later, in in 1884, the French Baron Pierre de Coubertin began to realise his dream of of continuing to organise the Olympic Games. The first modern summer games were held in Athens in 1896, and the Winter Games in Chamonix in 1924.
The Olympic Hall has an extensive collection of coins, medals and stamps, as well as photographs of Norway's top athletes.
A separate hall of the museum is dedicated to the 17th Olympic Games, which were held in Lillehammer in 1994. Lillehammer in 1994. 67 countries took part. The exposition plunges visitors into the magical atmosphere of those games.
