Editing Skien (section)

==Culture and recreation==
[[File:Kirkegata sett fra Ibsenparken.jpg|thumb|[[Skien Church]]]]
[[File:Skien videregående skole - Brekkeby.jpg|thumb|Skien Secondary school, Dept. Brekkeby]]

===Churches===
The [[Church of Norway]] has seven parishes ({{lang|no|sokn}}) within the municipality of Skien. It is part of the [[Skien prosti]] ([[deanery]]) in the [[Diocese of Agder og Telemark]].

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+ style="font-size:medium"|'''''Churches in Skien'''''
!Parish ({{lang|no|sokn}})!!Church name!!Location of the church!!Year built
|-
|rowspan="1"|Borgestad||[[Borgestad Church]]||Borgestad||1907
|-
|rowspan="2"|Gimsøy og Nenset||[[Gimsøy Church (Telemark)|Gimsøy Church]]||Gimsøy||1922
|-
|[[Nenset Church]]||Tollnes||1961
|-
|rowspan="3"|Gjerpen||[[Gjerpen Church]]||[[Skien (town)|Skien]]||1153
|-
|[[Luksefjell Church]]||[[Luksefjell]]||1858
|-
|[[Valebø Church]]||[[Valebø]]||1903
|-
|rowspan="2"|Gulset og Skotfoss||[[Gulset Church]]||[[Gulset]]||1986
|-
|[[Skotfoss Church]]||[[Skotfoss]]||1900
|-
|rowspan="2"|Kilebygda og Solum||[[Kilebygda Church]]||[[Kilebygda]]||1859
|-
|[[Solum Church]]||[[Solum, Norway|Solum]]||1766
|-
|rowspan="1"|Melum||[[Melum Church]]||[[Melum]]||1728
|-
|rowspan="1"|Skien||[[Skien Church]]||[[Skien (town)|Skien]]||1894
|}
[[Skien Church]] is the largest church in Telemark county, and is famous for its two twin [[Steeple (architecture)|tower]]s and great [[church organ|organ]].

===Ibsen and Telemark Museums===
Skien was the birthplace of the author and playwright [[Henrik Ibsen]], probably the most important writer to emerge from Norway. Many of Ibsen's plays are set in an unnamed provincial town that suggests Skien. The former Ibsen family homestead at Venstøp outside Skien was established as the Ibsen Museum in 1958. The Ibsen Museum has now been incorporated into the multi-site [[Telemark Museum]], which includes several other historical sites.

===Music and entertainment===
[[Ibsenhuset]] is the local culture and conference center in Skien. It also houses concerts by international and national artists, opera, theatre and other cultural events. [[Skien kunstforening]] has a department in Ibsenhuset, and the local culture school and library are also located in the building. The venue is also home to the regional symphony orchestra, Grenland Symfoniorkester.

[[Teater Ibsen]] is the city theatre, and is still used for small productions.

In the summer of 2009 Elton John held a concert at the new Skagerak Arena, the soccer pitch for the local footfall team Odd. Next to Skagerak Arena is Stevneplassen, where car shows, concerts, flea markets and the annual "Handelsstevnet" – a trade fair with entertainment and a small amusement park – are held. The Handelsstevnet was closed down after the annual fair in 2011.

In Skotfoss, a small suburb of Skien further up the Telemark Canal, concerts are held at Løveid Sluser. There are plans to hold cultural events and concerts at Klosterøya (a downtown graffiti park).

===Amusement parks===
There are no local amusement parks in Skien. Lekeland was a small amusement park for children just outside the town, but it closed in 2008. Every year there is a [[traveling carnival]] with rides and merry-go-arounds for a week, in "Stevneplassen". There is an indoor [[waterpark]] and a big outdoor climbing park in [[Skien Fritidspark]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Badeland, Skien fritidspark |url=http://www.visitgrenland.no/?lang=no&id=300260 |access-date=2009-02-06 |publisher=visitgrenland.no}}</ref>

===Frogner Manor in Skien===
{{ill|Frogner Manor (Skien)|lt=Frogner Manor|no|Frogner Hovedgård (Skien)}} (''Frogner Hovedgård'') is a manor house on the outskirts of Skien. The manor house was built for shipowner and timber merchant [[Blom (family from Skien)|Christopher Hansen Blom]] (died 1879) and his wife Marie Elisabeth (Cappelen) Blom (died 1834). The main building is influenced by Italian Renaissance architecture. The garden was laid out in English landscape style in the 1850s.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Blom – slekt fra Skien |url=https://snl.no/Blom%2Fslekt_fra_Skien |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160321032841/https://snl.no/Blom%2Fslekt_fra_Skien |archive-date=March 21, 2016 |access-date=February 1, 2016 |publisher=Store norske leksikon}}</ref>

[[File:KirkenKapitelberget.jpg|thumb|Kapitelberget church ruins]]

===Kapitelberget===
The Church on Kapitelberget (''Kirken på Kapitelberget'') was a medieval church. Kapitelberget was a private chapel on Bratsberg farm dating to the early 1100s. It is not known when the church went out of use, but Bratsberg farm burned down in 1156. in 1576, [[Peder Claussøn Friis]] reviewed it as a ruin. The site was first excavated in 1901. In 1928, [[Gerhard Fischer (architect)|Gerhard Fischer]] undertook restoration and preservation. The work was completed in 1933. 
<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wilhelm Swensen |title=Kirken på Kapitelberget |url=http://www.porsgrunn.folkebibl.no/bok/kulturbilder/kapitelberget.html |access-date=September 1, 2016 |publisher=Porsgrunn biblioteks}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Jon Gunnar Arntzen |title=Bratsberg |url=https://snl.no/Bratsberg |access-date=September 1, 2016 |publisher=Store norske leksikon}}</ref>