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The Lofotr Viking Museum ( no, Lofotr Vikingmuseum) is a historical museum based on a reconstruction and archaeological excavation of a
After the excavation ended, the remains of what had once been the long-house remained visible. The long-house has been reconstructed slightly to the north of the excavation site. In 1995, the Lofotr Viking Museum was opened. The museum includes a full reconstruction of the 83-metre (272 ft) long chieftain's house, a blacksmith's forge, two ships (replicas of the Gokstad ship, one in full scale size) and their boathouses, and various reenactments intended to immerse the visitor in life at the time of the Vikings. The main building was designed by Norwegian architect, Gisle Jakhelln.
In September 2006, a planned enlargement of Lofotr, the building of a large amphitheater into the ground between the reception building and the Chieftain House, was postponed because of the archeological findings of some 2,000-year-old cooking sites and pole holes at the site.
Today, the area is excavated and new buildings have been built on the site. This part of the museum comprises 2 permanent exhibition halls and a film theatre. The exhibition halls displays through videos and unique artifacts, the finding and excavation of Borg. Quite a few of the archeological artifacts are of remarkable character.
The extensive museum outdoor area is tied together with gravel walking paths, inviting the visitors to explore the history in a greater content than the exhibition halls alone - to see the reconstructed Chieftain´s house on top of the hill, to go on board the Viking ship, to see the surrounding views and try to grasp the value of the landscape and what it offered in the Viking Age - it all adds to the experience.
The museum is open every day from 1 May to 15 September. The administration of Lofotr Viking Museum is located in the former parsonage of the Borge Church.
Lofotr Viking Museum is nominated for Museum of the Year 2011 (in Norway) and the European Museum of the Year Award 2013.
Official Website
{{authority control Museums in Nordland Archaeological museums in Norway Living museums Viking Age museums Vestvågøy Tourist attractions in Nordland History museums in Norway
Viking
Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden),
who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...
chieftain's village on the island of Vestvågøya in the Lofoten
Lofoten () is an archipelago and a traditional district in the county of Nordland, Norway. Lofoten has distinctive scenery with dramatic mountains and peaks, open sea and sheltered bays, beaches and untouched lands. There are two towns, Svolvær ...
archipelago
An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands, or sometimes a sea containing a small number of scattered islands.
Examples of archipelagos include: the Indonesian Archi ...
in Nordland
Nordland (; smj, Nordlánnda, sma, Nordlaante, sme, Nordlánda, en, Northland) is a county in Norway in the Northern Norway region, the least populous of all 11 counties, bordering Troms og Finnmark in the north, Trøndelag in the south, N ...
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 located in the small village of Borg, near Bøstad
Bøstad is a village in Vestvågøy Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is located along the European route E10 highway just next to the hamlet of Borg (and the Lofotr museum) in the central part of the island of Vestvågøya in the Lofo ...
, in the municipality of Vestvågøy. It is part of the Museum Nord
Museum Nord is a Norwegian museum consortium for the northern part of Nordland county, including the districts of Lofoten, Vesterålen, and Ofoten. The museum is set up as a foundation and was established on December 13, 2002. It opened in 200 ...
consortium.
History
In 1983,archaeologist
Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...
s uncovered the Chieftain House at Borg (''På Borg på Vestvågøya i Lofoten''), a large Viking Era
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 Germ ...
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 long and wide, and the reconstructed building is high. The seat at Borg is estimated to have been abandoned around AD 950.
Current operation
After the excavation ended, the remains of what had once been the long-house remained visible. The long-house has been reconstructed slightly to the north of the excavation site. In 1995, the Lofotr Viking Museum was opened. The museum includes a full reconstruction of the 83-metre (272 ft) long chieftain's house, a blacksmith's forge, two ships (replicas of the Gokstad ship, one in full scale size) and their boathouses, and various reenactments intended to immerse the visitor in life at the time of the Vikings. The main building was designed by Norwegian architect, Gisle Jakhelln.
In September 2006, a planned enlargement of Lofotr, the building of a large amphitheater into the ground between the reception building and the Chieftain House, was postponed because of the archeological findings of some 2,000-year-old cooking sites and pole holes at the site.
Today, the area is excavated and new buildings have been built on the site. This part of the museum comprises 2 permanent exhibition halls and a film theatre. The exhibition halls displays through videos and unique artifacts, the finding and excavation of Borg. Quite a few of the archeological artifacts are of remarkable character.
The extensive museum outdoor area is tied together with gravel walking paths, inviting the visitors to explore the history in a greater content than the exhibition halls alone - to see the reconstructed Chieftain´s house on top of the hill, to go on board the Viking ship, to see the surrounding views and try to grasp the value of the landscape and what it offered in the Viking Age - it all adds to the experience.
The museum is open every day from 1 May to 15 September. The administration of Lofotr Viking Museum is located in the former parsonage of the Borge Church.
Lofotr Viking Museum is nominated for Museum of the Year 2011 (in Norway) and the European Museum of the Year Award 2013.
Trivia
The Longhouse served as the Pit Stop of the fourth leg in ''The Amazing Race 23
''The Amazing Race 23'' is the twenty-third season of the American reality television show ''The Amazing Race''. It featured eleven teams of two competing in a race around the world.
The season premiered on CBS on September 29, 2013, and the two ...
''.
See also
*Hålogaland
Hålogaland was the northernmost of the Norway, Norwegian provinces in the medieval Norse sagas. In the early Viking Age, before Harald Fairhair, Hålogaland was a Monarchy, kingdom extending between the Namdalen valley in Trøndelag county and ...
References
External links
Official Website
{{authority control Museums in Nordland Archaeological museums in Norway Living museums Viking Age museums Vestvågøy Tourist attractions in Nordland History museums in Norway