Vøringsfossen ( en, Vøring Falls) is the 83rd highest waterfall in

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 ...

on the basis of total fall. It lies at the top of the

Måbødalen Måbødalen ( en, Måbø Valley) is a narrow valley in Eidfjord Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The long valley begins at the village of Øvre Eidfjord and ends at the Sysendalen valley on the western side of the Hardangervidda plateau. ...

valley in the municipality of

Eidfjord Eidfjord is a municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The municipality is located in the traditional district of Hardanger. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Eidfjord, where the majority of the municipal populatio ...

, in

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. It is located near

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 ...

, which connects

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

with

Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula of ...

. It has a total drop of , and a major drop of . It is perhaps the most famous in the country and a major tourist attraction on the way down from Hardangervidda to Hardangerfjord. There are several warning signs in regard to the dangers of falling to one's death.Sikringsarbeidet starter først til neste år
/ref> Other measures for preventing deaths were planned for implementation in the spring of 2015, and a stairway bridge opened in 2020.

Name

The name Vøringsfossen ( non, Vyrðingr) is derived from the verb ''vyrða'' (

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

: esteem, revere). The last element ''fossen,'' the definite form of ''foss'' (

waterfall A waterfall is a point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf. Waterfalls can be formed in several wa ...

), is a later addition.

History

The waterfall was hardly known by anyone other than locals until 1821. In that year professor Christopher Hansteen, who was on his way to the

Hardangervidda Hardangervidda ( en, Hardanger Plateau) is a mountain plateau (Norwegian: ''vidde'') in central southern Norway, covering parts of Vestland, Vestfold og Telemark, and Viken counties. It is the largest plateau of its kind in Europe, with a cold ye ...

plateau to make astronomical observations, estimated the height of the waterfall to be about by throwing stones down from the edge and measuring the time they took to fall with his pocket watch. In 1893 it was measured with a string, and the real height was revealed to be . In 1880 Ola Garen decided to build a hotel at top of the waterfall. The only way up there was a path with 1,500 stairs up ''Måbøbjerget'' together with a

bridle path A bridle path, also bridleway, equestrian trail, horse riding path, ride, bridle road, or horse trail, is a trail or a thoroughfare that is used by people riding on horses. Trails originally created for use by horses often now serve a wider r ...

that had been built in 1872 to carry English tourists to the waterfall. In 1891 a new road with tunnels was built along ''Eidfjordvandet,'' and in the same year the

Fossli Hotel Fossli Hotel is a hotel situated at Vøringsfossen on top of Måbødalen, in the municipality of Eidfjord in Vestland county, Norway. Fossli Hotel is situated just off Rv7 on top of the mountain, overlooking the Måbødalen valley and the Vøri ...

was finished, designed in Art Nouveau style by architect Frederik Konow Lund. All materials for the construction had to be carried on horseback from Eidfjord up to the top of the hill. Around the year 1900 large cruise ships began to visit Eidfjord, and from there passengers were transported by horse and wagon up the valley. The composer

Edvard Grieg Edvard Hagerup Grieg ( , ; 15 June 18434 September 1907) was a Norwegian composer and pianist. He is widely considered one of the foremost Romantic era composers, and his music is part of the standard classical repertoire worldwide. His use of ...

had a log cabin nearby and was a frequent visitor to the falls.

Hydroelectric

The

Bjoreio The Bjoreio, also known as the Bjoreia, is a river in the municipality of Eidfjord in Vestland, Norway. The river is long, and it has a drainage basin of . Its natural average discharge is , but this is considerably less today because of hydroel ...

, the small river that flows into ''Vøringsfossen'' has a

hydroelectric dam Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined and ...

in the Sysendalen valley above the falls. The water volume in the river is regulated in connection with power development, but there are requirements for minimum water flow of above its natural rate in the summer,

Pedestrian bridge

A pedestrian bridge has been placed across the ravine in sections by helicopter. One side is sixteen metres higher than the other, and its length is 47 metres. The design is by Carl-Viggo Holmebakk. An article in

Dagsavisen ''Dagsavisen'' is a daily newspaper published in Oslo, Norway. The former party organ of the Norwegian Labour Party, the ties loosened over time from 1975 to 1999. It has borne several names, and was called ''Arbeiderbladet'' from 1923 to 1997. ...

described it as a bridge reminiscent of "a collapsed

scaffold Scaffolding, also called scaffold or staging, is a temporary structure used to support a work crew and materials to aid in the construction, maintenance and repair of buildings, bridges and all other man-made structures. Scaffolds are widely use ...

for construction, across" the ravine.Egoistiske eventyrere
elfish adventurers 20 October 2020

References

External links

*
Vøringfossen in June
on

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