Norway: Sun-starved residents of a remote Norwegian village created a stunning glass system to bring natural light into a mountain valley and dispel the darkness that surrounds them for six months of the year.
Many villagers, sporting sunglasses, waited impatiently for the sun to set in the small square, looking into three large mirrors mounted on the 400-meter (1,310-foot) hilltop.
It took a while, but the sun finally peeked out from behind the clouds to deliver the first glimmering rays of early winter sunlight.
“Every day from now on, we will celebrate the sun,” he told AFP, referring to the annual local celebration when the village finally emerges from the darkness.
From school children to sun-kissed police officers to seasonal sunglasses, organizers said 2,500 people turned out to witness the event, with many parking chairs and beach umbrellas set aside for the day the orchestra played. “Let the sun shine”.
Despite strong objections from some, 80 percent kroner (615,000 euros, $849,000) was raised from sponsors to install three 17-square-meter (183-square-foot) mirrors above the village of Rjukan.
Computers use mirrors to follow the Sun and reflect light on the market square, making the 600-square-meter (6,459 sq ft) area about the size of three tennis courts.
“It’s amazing,” said Bjarne Randlew, a retiree who has lived in Rjukan all his life.
“You feel like you are in the south with this light,” said Antonio Luraas Navarro after school for the day.
“But it’s a bit cold,” he said, jumping around to warm himself.
In addition to pleasing winter-thirsty residents, the region, known for its skiing, hopes to use media coverage of the event to attract more tourists.
“We are looking for both,” said Steinar Bergsland, former mayor of the industrial area.
Norwegian industrialist Sam Eide founded Norsk Hydro Corporation, which gave birth to the village of Rjukan, home to a large waterfall, providing energy for a chemical fertilizer factory.
From a population of only 300 scattered in the scattered farms in 1900, the population has grown to 10,000 by 1913.
At that time, Eide already had the idea of using a large mirror to reflect sunlight into the valley, but he did not have the technology to do so.
Instead, he built a cable car, which is still in use, to take his employees to the top of the mountain to sunbathe.
Today, the factories are gone and the population has dwindled, but the locals hope the mirrors will show a new era of prosperity.
“More tourists means more business for retailers, services and hotels,” Bergsland said.
But he wasn’t content to stop there, wanting to remind the world that it was the site of a spectacular World War II sabotage operation targeting a Nazi chemical plant that could help build the atomic bomb.
The municipality believes that it has long been included in the UNESCO World Heritage List as an example of industrial genius.
All that remains is to show that mirrors can attract tourists during the dark winter months.
A similar system was tested in the small municipality of Viganella in northern Italy, but local officials there said the number of tourists also dropped after the initial rush died down.
