Ålesund is a town and municipality in Møre of Romsdal county. The sea port is noted for its unique Art nouveau architecture. This is due to the fire in1904, when practically the entire town of wooden buildings burnt down. The «new» town was rebuilt in stone, bricks and mortar in the Art Nouveau or Jugend  style.

In the park, in the middle of the town, below the mountain Aksla it is a statue of Rollo, the founder and first duke of Normandy, ancestor of William the Conqueror. This statue is a gift from the French city of Rouen to Ålesund to celebrate the 1000th anniversary of Treaty of Saint Clair-sur-Epte. One theory places the home of Rollo to the island of Giske, near Ålesund.