Municipality of Rost - Via Querinissima

MUNICIPALITY OF RØST

Public body – Norway

The Venetian nobleman Pietro Querini found refuge in Røst in 1432 after a shipwreck.

From the diary of Pietro Querini

The inhabitants of this island, both men and women, are very pure and good-looking people. […]

Their dwellings are built of round wood. They have only one skylight above the ceiling. […]

They dress in coarse woollen clothing, but do not wear leather clothes.
In spring, countless wild geese come to the island and nest here, even very close to the houses. […]
The island lies 70 miles west of the Cape of Norway and is called the ass of the world in their language because of its extreme location.

The water is shallow, the island flat, except for a few knolls on which houses are built.

Røst today

Røst is a municipality in Nordland County, Norway, beyond the Arctic Circle of the southwestern tip of the Lofoten Islands archipelago.

The climate is cool in summer and the North Atlantic Current means that the temperature is relatively mild in winter.

The island’s economic activity is related to fishing, especially cod, and the production of stockfish.

In 1932, on the occasion of the 500th anniversary of the shiwrecked of Querini and his crew the inhabitants of Røst erected a monument on the island of Sandøy, with the support and in the presence of the the Italian Ambassador Count Alberto de Marsanich, to recover and preserve the memory of Pietro Querini.

Based on the story of Querini’s voyage, the opera ‘Querini’ was performed in Røst for the first time in 2012 with the participation of singers accredited in Norway accompanied by locals.

The performance was well attended nationally and internationally and kicked off the ‘Querinifest’, an event that is repeated every year on the first weekend of August.

Røst is part of the international ‘Via Querinissima’ project, which retraces Querini’s journey back to Italy. The aim of the project is to foster the development of cooperation in the fields of tourism, economy, environmental protection and culture.

The municipality of Røst is twinned with the Vicenza town of Sandrigo, to which a small island has also been dedicated. The twinning is due to the fact that the island of Røst is the source of the vast majority of stockfish with which Vicenza’s baccalà alla vicentina, a traditional dish of Veneto cuisine, is cooked.

Furthermore, a square in Sandrigo has been dedicated to Røst.