Røst

Røst is the entry point when sailing from the south into the Lofoten. It remains a very active fishing harbour where inhabitants are working in fishing industry or in support of the industry. There are six fishing farms on Røst. Hundred of boats are gathering there during the fishing season.

The life on Røst at the medieval times has been described by Pietro Querini, a Venitian sailor who was shipwrecked off the coast of Brittany on his way to Bruges. Of the 68 crews who made it to the lifeboats, only eleven survived the several weeks of drifting north along the Gulf Stream and went ashore on small skerries close to Røst where they were rescued in 1432. Upon returning to Venice, he wrote a report describing the life of the islanders, and brought back stockfish, the unsalted dried cod where it was soon prepared as Bacalà alla Vicentina.

In 2007, the project to perform an opera on Røst based on the story of Pietro Querini. The opera is written by Henning Sommerro on a libretto by Ragnar Olsen. The première was in July 2012 in Røst. Since then, it was played in 2014 and 2018. The next performance will be in the summer of 2019.

See an extract of the opera on youtube.