On the Fuglenes peninsula, just across the harbour, is the Meridianstøtta, a marble column commemorating the first survey (1816–52) by Russian scientist Friedrich Georg Wilhelm Struve to determine the arc of the global meridian and thereby calculate the size and shape of the earth. It forms part of a Unesco World Heritage Site known as the Struve Geodetic Arc.
Nearby are the rather thin foundations of the Skansen Fortress, which dates from the Napoleonic Wars, when the British briefly held and plundered the town.