Lofotr Viking Museum

Day 5, 03.12.2015

In one of our lectures we where talking about the old Viking longhouses and about the Lofotr Viking Museum.

The Lofotr Viking Museum is a historical museum based on a reconstruction and archaeological excavation of a Viking chieftain's village on the island of Vestvågøya in the Lofotenarchipelago in Nordland county, Norway. It is located in the small village of Borg, near Bøstad, in the municipality of Vestvågøy.

In 1983, archaeologists uncovered the Chieftain House at Borg, a large Viking Era building believed to have been already established around the year 500 AD. A joint Scandinavian research project was conducted at Borg from 1986 until 1989. Excavations revealed the largest building ever to be found from the Viking period in Norway. The foundation of the Chieftain House at Borg measured 83 metres long and 9 metres high. The seat at Borg is estimated to have been abandoned around AD 950.

I really liked this lecture because I am never getting tired of history. It is one of my favorite subjects!

The Lofotr Viking Museum

Picture source:

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c6/Borg_Vestv%C3%A5g%C3%B8y_LC0165.jpg

Gildeskål Church

Day 4, 01.12.2015

Our last trip was to the Gildeskål Church in the municipality of Gildeskål in Nordland county, Norway. The Gildeskål church is a parish church. It is located north of the village of Inndyr. The church is part of the Gildeskål parish in the Bodø deanery in the Diocese of Sør-Hålogaland.

In 1851, a new law was passed that said that all rural churches had to be able to fit at least 30% of the parish members in the church building. Since the old Gildeskål church was too small, a new church had to be built for the parish. It was decided that the new church would be built on the same site, just west of the old church. The new church was completed in 1881 and it seated about 750 people.

The landscape around the church site is untouched by recent development. Grave mounds, 

old stone boat landings and the old church path are among the cultural relics in the area. 

There is a magnificent view of the islands and shipping channels from the church hill.