Solvorn is a village in

Luster Municipality Luster is a municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is located at the end of the Sognefjorden in the traditional district of Sogn. The administrative centre is the village of Gaupne. Other villages in Luster include Fortun, Hafslo, Indre H ...

Vestland Vestland is a county in Norway established on 1 January 2020. The county is located in Western Norway and it is centred around the city of Bergen, Norway's second largest city. The administrative centre of the county is the city of Bergen, where t ...

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 on the western shore of the

Lustrafjorden The Sognefjord or Sognefjorden (, en, Sogn Fjord), nicknamed the King of the Fjords ( no, Fjordenes konge), is the largest and deepest fjord in Norway. Located in Vestland county in Western Norway, it stretches inland from the ocean to the smal ...

, the innermost part of the

Sognefjorden The Sognefjord or Sognefjorden (, en, Sogn Fjord), nicknamed the King of the Fjords ( no, Fjordenes konge), is the largest and deepest fjord in Norway. Located in Vestland county in Western Norway, it stretches inland from the ocean to the smal ...

. The village sits directly across the fjord from the village of Ornes, where the famous 12th-century

Urnes Stave Church Urnes Stave Church ( no, Urnes stavkyrkje) is a 12th-century stave church at Ornes, along the Lustrafjorden in the municipality of Luster in Vestland county, Norway. The church sits on the eastern side of the fjord, directly across the fjord f ...

is located. The village of

Hafslo Hafslo is a Former municipalities of Norway, former municipality in the old Sogn og Fjordane Counties of Norway, county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 1963. It is located in the present-day Luster Municipal ...

lies about to the northwest. The village is the site of the historic Walaker Hotel, dating back to about 1650.

Solvorn Church Solvorn Church ( no, Solvorn kyrkje) is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Luster Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is located in the village of Solvorn. It is the church for the Solvorn parish which is part of the Sogn prosti (d ...

, built in 1883, is located in the village. There has been a regular ferry route from Solvorn to Ornes, across the fjord, since 1859. From 1963 until 1990, there was also a regular ferry route from Solvorn to

Årdalstangen Årdalstangen is the administrative centre of Årdal Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The village is one of the two main population centers in the municipality, along with the village of Øvre Årdal. The village has a population (2019) ...

, about down the fjord. Solvorn has a long history as a trade center, a church site, a courthouse site, and it was the seat of the district magistrate for Inner

Sogn Sogn is a traditional district in Western Norway ''(Vestlandet)''. It is located in the county of Vestland, surrounding the Sognefjord, the largest/longest fjord in Norway. The district of Sogn consists of the municipalities of Aurland, Balestra ...

. The village has had a church since 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 ...

, the first time Solvorn Church is mentioned in historical records is in the 14th century. Solvorn was a natural place to go to for all the people who lived around the lake

Hafslovatnet Hafslovatnet is a lake in the municipality of Luster in Vestland county, Norway. The lake lies at an elevation of , has a surface area of , and a water volume of . It serves as a reservoir for the hydroelectric power station in Årøy. The prima ...

and its surrounding villages when they would sell or buy anything. The village had its heyday when the fjord was the main thoroughfare for transportation for the region. Since that time, car transportation has become more important that fjord travel, and the

Norwegian County Road 55 County Road 55 ( no, Fylkesvei 55) is a highway which runs between the municipalities of Lom and Høyanger in Norway. The section across Sognefjellet, known as Sognefjellsvegen, is designated a National Tourist Route. Also a short section at B ...

was built on the other side of the mountains, closer to Hafslo, so Solvorn is no longer located along the main transportation route. Solvorn received a post office in 1841 and had that post office until 1995 when it was closed.

Name

The name ( non, Solvǫrn) seems to be a compound of ''sól'' (meaning 'sun') and ''vǫrn'' (meaning 'protection'). The meaning of the name is then 'protector of the Sun'. This would refer to the fact that the deep valley of Solvorn secure the old chieftain site of Ornes sunlight in the evenings, when the areas north and south of Ornes lies in the shadows of the mountains.

Media gallery

File:Solvorn 1.jpg, Aerial view of the village File:Solvorn.jpg, View from the fjord, looking west File:Solvorn 01.jpg, View of boathouses along the fjord File:Blick von Urnes nach Solvorn 18.07.08 3.jpg, View of Solvorn from Ornes (across the fjord) File:Walaker hotell.jpg, Walaker hotel File:Solvorn kyrkje.jpg, Solvorn Church

References

Villages in Vestland Luster, Norway {{Vestland-geo-stub