Kon-Tiki Museum - Virtual Tour 360°

The Kon-Tiki Museum (Kon-Tiki Museet) is a museum dedicated to the Kon-Tiki expedition, undertaken in 1947 by Thor Heyerdahl and 5 of his companions across the Pacific Ocean.

It is located on the Bygdøy peninsula in Oslo, the capital of Norway.

The museum houses the balsa raft and also the Ra II expedition boat (1970), along with original relics from each of Heyerdahl's famous expeditions: Fatu Hiva (1937-38); Kon-Tiki (1947); Easter Island (1955-56 and 1986-88); Ra and Ra II (1969 and 1970); and Tigris (1977-78).

The museum was opened in a temporary structure in 1949 by Heyerdal himself and expedition partner Knut Haugland, who directed it for the next 40 years.

In 1957 the present structure was opened, designed by the architects F.S. Platou and Otto Torgersen.

In 1978 Torgersen designed its extension.

Among other things, there is a separate area dedicated to temporary exhibitions; a 30-meter walkable cavern; an underwater exhibition containing the faithful reproduction of a 10-meter whale shark; and a souvenir area.

The Kon-Tiki Museum also houses a cinema, where the original film "Kon-Tiki", which won the Academy Award for Best Documentary in 1951, is shown daily at 12 noon.

An integral part of the museum is also the "Thor Heyerdahl's Research Foundation" archaeological research institute, whose library containing over 8000 books was declared by UNESCO in 2011 "Memory of the World", due to the precious collections of photos, material Heyerdahl's filmography and manuscripts.

The museum is located near several other museums, which include the Fram Museum, the Norsk Maritimt Museum, the Viking Ship Museum, and the Norsk Folkemuseum.

Every year it is visited by around 200,000 people from all over the world and has had over 16 million visitors since its opening.

Map: Kon-Tiki Museum - Virtual Tour 360°