Gulsvik is a village in the municipality of

Flå Flå is a municipality in Viken county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Flå. The municipality of Flå was established when it was separated from the municipality of Nes on 1 January 1905. The municipali ...

Buskerud Buskerud () is a former county and a current electoral district in Norway, bordering Akershus, Oslo, Oppland, Sogn og Fjordane, Hordaland, Telemark and Vestfold. The region extends from the Oslofjord and Drammensfjorden in the southeast to Hardan ...

, Norway. It is located in Hallingdal at the north end of Lake Krøderen. The center of the village lies at Gulsvik Rail Station.

Bergensbanen The Bergen Line or the Bergen Railway ( no, Bergensbanen or nn, Bergensbana), is a long scenic standard gauge railway line between Bergen and Hønefoss, Norway. The name is often applied for the entire route from Bergen via Drammen to Oslo, wh ...

railway terminated at Gulsvik Station from 1908 until the line was completed in 1909. With its location at the top of Lake Krøderen, Gulsvik was a key port on the lake. When the ferry over Lake Krøderen was established, Gulsvik became the natural port on the northern side, with accommodations for

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 ...

. Hallingporten is a 65 m long tunnel on

Norwegian National Road 7 Norwegian National Road 7 ( no, Riksvei 7, ) is a national road in Norway which runs from the town of Hønefoss in Viken county to the village of Granvin in Vestland county. The route is long and runs east–west through Viken and Vestland coun ...

(''Riksvei 7'') just north of Gulsvik. The tunnel has a distinctive shape. The reason for this is that the current road tunnel has been added where there was previously a tog tunnel. The Hallingporten upper level is thus the old tog tunnel. There were skirmishes here in April 1940 during the Fighting in Hallingdal. The name Gulsvik is connected to the original farm of Gulsvik. The Gulsvik farm was known from the

middle ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

, when the owners were among the most prominent people in lower

Hallingdal Hallingdal ( en, Halling Valley) is a valley as well as a traditional district located in the traditional and electoral district Buskerud in Viken county in Norway. It consists of six municipalities: Flå, Nes, Gol, Hemsedal, Ål and Hol. Hal ...

. In the late middle ages, the owners of Gulsvik farm were noblemen in allegiance to the

king of Norway The Norwegian monarch is the head of state of Norway, which is a constitutional and hereditary monarchy with a parliamentary system. The Norwegian monarchy can trace its line back to the reign of Harald Fairhair and the previous petty kingdoms ...

. The old Gulsvik

clan A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, clans may claim descent from founding member or apical ancestor. Clans, in indigenous societies, tend to be endogamous, meaning ...

is said to be one of the most widespread families in lower Buskerud, descending from a

Birkebeiner The Birkebein Party or Birkebeinar (; no, Birkebeinarane (nynorsk) or (bokmål)) was the name for a rebellious party in Norway, formed in 1174 around the pretender to the Norwegian throne, Eystein Meyla. The name has its origins in propagand ...

soldier in the service of

King Sverre Sverre Sigurdsson ( non, Sverrir Sigurðarson) (c. 1145/1151 – 9 March 1202) was the king of Norway from 1184 to 1202. Many consider him one of the most important rulers in Norwegian history. He assumed power as the leader of the rebel party ...

. Dating from 1430, the farm became divided, as time passed into upper, middle and lower Gulsvik (''Gulsvik nordre'', ''Gulsvik mellom'' and ''Gulsvik søndre''). This area is called Gulsvik Farthing (''Gulsvikfjerdingen'') and contains a number of farms. The wider area south of Gulsvik was settled just as early, and the proper name of the area is Southern Flå Municipality, reckoned from the border of

Krødsherad Krødsherad (''Krødsherad kommune'') is a municipality in Viken county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Noresund. The municipality of Krødsherad was established when it was separated from the municipality ...

up to the end of Lake Krøderen (''Innsjøen Krøderen''). The Gulsvik Farthing is to the north, close up to Hallingdal gate, an entrance into the valley of Hallingdal.

References

External links

Kommunedelplan for Gulsvik''Gulsvik Development Plan, From Fjord To Mountain'' (Flå Municipality 2008)
{{authority control Flå Populated places in Buskerud Villages in Buskerud Cities and towns in Norway