Gjesvær ( sme, Geaissvearra) is an old fishing village in

Nordkapp Municipality ), North Cape, Norway, other uses, North Cape (disambiguation) Nordkapp ( en, North Cape; sme, Davvinjárga or ; fkv, Kappa or ) is a municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of ...

Troms og Finnmark Troms og Finnmark (; sme, Romsa ja Finnmárku ; fkv, Tromssa ja Finmarkku; fi, Tromssa ja Finnmark, lit. Troms and Finnmark in English language, English), is a Counties of Norway, county in Northern Norway, northern Norway that was established ...

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 ...

. It is the only place in Finnmark known from the

Viking Age The Viking Age () was the period during the Middle Ages when Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raiding, colonizing, conquest, and trading throughout Europe and reached North America. It followed the Migration Period and the Ger ...

and is mentioned in the Heimskringla saga as ''Geirsver''. The name comes from the name of a bird called geirfugl. The location was used by Vikings on the way to Bjarmaland (see Ottar from Hålogaland), and probably also for gathering food on the nearby Gjesværstappan islands which contain one of the largest seabird colonies in Norway. Like most other places in Finnmark, all buildings in the village were burned down in 1944 by the German occupying forces. Gjesvær Chapel, built in 1960, is considered a cultural monument. 2011-06-07 Fishing village of Gjesvær, Norway

2011-06-07 Fishing village of Gjesvær, Norway

Gjesvær has approximately 100 inhabitants, but at the beginning of the 1970s, it had about 350 people. It has a fish processing plant, local shop, post office, and primary school. The main industry is

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...

, but in recent years there has been an increased emphasis on

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...

, activities including fishing and bird watching trips to the Gjesværstappan nature reserve. Gjesvær was historically a part of

Måsøy Municipality Måsøy ( sme, Muosát; fkv, Moseija) is a municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Havøysund. Other villages include Bakfjord, Gunnarnes, Ingøy, Måsøy, Slåtten, ...

, along with the sparsely populated western part of

Magerøya Magerøya ( sme, Máhkarávju) is a large island in Troms og Finnmark county, in the extreme northern part of Norway. The island lies along the Barents Sea in Nordkapp Municipality, just north of the Porsanger Peninsula. The mouth of Porsangerfj ...

island. There were no road connections across the island, so residents traveled by boat whenever they left the village and by boat, they are closer to Måsøy. In 1977, the long Norwegian County Road 156 was completed, connecting Gjesvær by a

causeway A causeway is a track, road or railway on the upper point of an embankment across "a low, or wet place, or piece of water". It can be constructed of earth, masonry, wood, or concrete. One of the earliest known wooden causeways is the Sweet Tra ...

island and then continuing on to Honningsvåg. For this reason, the municipal boundary was moved. On 1 January 1984, Gjesvær and the western part of Magerøya were transferred from Måsøy municipality to

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gjesvaer Magerøya Nordkapp Villages in Finnmark