Dirdal is a village in

Gjesdal Gjesdal is a municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Jæren. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Ålgård. Other villages in Gjesdal include Dirdal, Frafjord, Gilja, Gjes ...

municipality in

Rogaland Rogaland () is a Counties of Norway, county in Western Norway, bordering the North Sea to the west and the counties of Vestland to the north, Vestfold og Telemark to the east and Agder to the east and southeast. In 2020, it had a population of 47 ...

county,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. The village is located where the

Frafjorden Frafjorden is a fjord in the municipalities of Gjesdal and Sandnes in Rogaland county, Norway. The fjord is the innermost branch of the Høgsfjorden. The Frafjorden has steep sides with no habitation along its shores, except for the village of F ...

joins the main

Høgsfjorden Høgsfjorden is a fjord in Rogaland county, Norway. It lies in the municipalities of Stavanger, Sandnes, Strand, and Gjesdal. The innermost part of the fjord is located at the village of Frafjord in the municipality of Gjesdal. It flows west to D ...

. The village lies at the end of the ''Dirdalen'' valley, which stretches to the southeast from Dirdal. The village of

Gilja Gilja is a village in Gjesdal municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. The village is located about southeast of the village of Dirdal in the Dirdalen valley. The Frafjord Tunnel connects Gilja with the village of Frafjord, located in the nex ...

lies about into the valley. The village of

Oltedal Oltedal is a village in Gjesdal municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. The village is located in a narrow river valley about northeast of the municipal centre of Ålgård and about west of the village of Dirdal, just west of the Høgsfjorden. ...

lies about west of Dirdal.

Dirdal Church Dirdal Church ( no, Dirdal kirke) is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Gjesdal Municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. It is located in the village of Dirdal. It is one of the three churches for the Gjesdal parish which is part of the J ...

is located in the village. The ''Dirdalen'' valley is about long, following the Dirdalsåna river. The valley is connected to the neighboring valley of

Frafjord Frafjord is a village and farming community in the municipality of Gjesdal in Rogaland county, Norway. It is located in the Frafjorddalen valley, at the innermost end of the Frafjorden, a branch of the larger Høgsfjorden. The village had about 1 ...

by the

Frafjord Tunnel The Frafjord Tunnel ( no, Frafjordtunnelen) is a road tunnel in Gjesdal municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. The long tunnel is located along the Norwegian county road 281 connecting the villages of Frafjord and Gilja Gilja is a village i ...

which runs through the mountains and ends at the village of Gilja.

History

Prior to 1 January 1965, the village (and valley) were part of the municipality of

Forsand Forsand is a former municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1871 until 2020 when it was merged into Sandnes municipality. It was located in the traditional district of Ryfylke. The administrative centre of the m ...

. This area was moved to Gjesdal because there was no road connection from Dirdal to the rest of Forsand, but there was a road connection to the rest of Gjesdal. Dirdal was the scene of fierce fighting between Norwegian and German soldiers during Nazi Germany's assault on Norway (

Operation Weserübung Operation Weserübung (german: Unternehmen Weserübung , , 9 April – 10 June 1940) was Germany's assault on Denmark and Norway during the Second World War and the opening operation of the Norwegian Campaign. In the early morning of 9 Ap ...

) in April 1940.

References

Villages in Rogaland Gjesdal {{Rogaland-geo-stub