Slidredomen is the old principal parish church in Valdres, dating back to the 1100s. The church was mentioned in writing for the first time in a letter from the pope in 1264, and it was then referred to as 'ecclesie Sancte Marie De Slidrum'. It also features the inscription 'Maria' in runic letters. The south-facing main entrance is equipped with medieval fittings in wrought iron and measuring stick. A cross has been engraved into the stone frame, and the door opening features a labyrinth. Traces of five consecration crosses can be found in the church, and the northern wall of the nave has a painted coat-of-arms from around 1330-1350.
On the eastern wall of the choir is an impressive lime painting from the 1400s. It shows the apostles, an illustration of the ascension and, at the very top, a blessing of coronation amid angles with musical instrument. The choir`s roof painting dates back to around 1250, and shows Christ surrounded by the evangelist symbols.Slidredomen has a unique altar chalice which is still in use, and which was probably made during the period 1325-1350. Salomon, the bishop of Oslo from 1322-1351, was the vicar of Slidre in 1298. He donated the chalice to his old church as a thank you for surviving the Black Death in 1350. The altarpiece, pulpit and choir partition were painted in 1797 and 1798.
In the olden days, Slidredomen had '12 bells ringing in perfect harmony. Today the church has 4 bells in the turret and two bells in the belfry. The belfry is dated 1679 and 1798.
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Goryōkaku (五稜郭) (literally, 'five-point fort') is a star fort in the Japanese city of Hakodate on the island of Hokkaido. The fortress was completed in 1866. It was the main fortress of the short-lived Republic of Ezo.
Goryōkaku was designed in 1855 by Takeda Ayasaburō and Jules Brunet. Their plans was based on the work of the French architect Vauban. The fortress was completed in 1866, two years before the collapse of the Tokugawa Shogunate. It is shaped like a five-pointed star. This allowed for greater numbers of gun emplacements on its walls than a traditional Japanese fortress, and reduced the number of blind spots where a cannon could not fire.
The fort was built by the Tokugawa shogunate to protect the Tsugaru Strait against a possible invasion by the Meiji government.
Goryōkaku is famous as the site of the last battle of the Boshin War.