Vikersund is a town of 3,232 (in 2020) inhabitants in the municipality capital of

Modum Modum is a municipality in Buskerud in Viken county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Vikersund. The municipality of Modum was established on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). The area has a long ...

, in the county of Viken,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, 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 ...

Overview

Vikersund is located 30 kilometers south of Hønefoss and 40 kilometers northwest of Drammen. The village is located at the southwestern arm of Tyrifjorden. Drammenselva enters Tyrifjorden by Vikerfossen. Trunk road Highway 35 passes Vikersund. Vikersund station is a railway station on

Randsfjordbanen The Randsfjorden Line ( no, Randsfjordbanen) is an railway located in Viken county in Norway connecting Drammen to Hønefoss and Hadeland in Innlandet county. The railway is primarily used for passenger trains, and the only scheduled trains on th ...

which was established in 1866, two years before Randsfjordbanen between Drammen and

Randsfjord Randsfjorden is Norway's fourth-largest lake with an area of . Its volume is estimated at just over , and its greatest depth is . The lake is located at an elevation of above sea level. It is located in Innlandet and Viken counties in the mun ...

was completed. Vikersund has a primary school - Vikersund primary school and a middle school - North Modum School. Students at NMU from Vikersund school Sysle school and some also come from Stalsberg school (Geithus). Between Vikersund and Krøderen is ''Krøderbanen museumsjernbane'' railway museum. Tyrifjord Hotell, situated by the fjord opposite Vikersund, just 3 minutes by car from Vikersund Ski-Jumping Center with the world's largest ski flying hill.

History

Historically, Vikersund been important in the

pulp and paper industry The pulp and paper industry comprises companies that use wood as raw material and produce Pulp (paper), pulp, paper, paperboard and other cellulose-based products. Manufacturing process The pulp is fed to a paper machine where it is formed as ...

. Timber was floated on Tyrifjord past Vikerfossen down the Drammenselva. Modum municipality has many cultural and sports facilities. In Vikersund this includes the Vikersund Ski-Jumping Center with seven ski slopes, golf courses and ski hill. Vikersund is perhaps best known for it

ski flying Ski flying is a winter sport discipline derived from ski jumping, in which much greater distances can be achieved. It is a form of competitive individual Nordic skiing where athletes descend at high speed along a specially designed takeoff ...

hill,

Vikersundbakken Vikersundbakken or Vikersund Hill is a ski flying hill at Vikersund in Modum, Norway. It is one of the two largest purpose-built ski flying hills in the world. Nine world records have been set there, including the current record of 253.5 met ...

. The present large hill was built in 1988 and last modified in 2010. It regularly hosts World Cup in ski flying. It has hosted the

FIS Ski Flying World Championships The FIS Ski Flying World Championships is a ski flying event organised by the International Ski Federation and held every two years. The event takes place on hills much larger than ski jumping hills, with the K-point set between and . Unlike ord ...

four times and will do so again in 2022. On 18 March 2017 Stefan Kraft set a world record in the ground with 253.5 m, while Dmitriy Vasiliev flew to 254 m, but crashed.

Vike kirkeruin

The ruins of Vike Church (''Vike kirkeruin'') are located east of Vikersund. It was referred to as the parish church in 1456, but is believed to have dated from the 1200s. The church was presumably abandoned around the Protestant Reformation. The walls stood until late 1700s, but later they are used as a quarry. The foundations were uncovered and excavated in 1969-70 under the direction of Luce Hinsch.

References

Other sources

* Hinsch, Luce (1987) ''Monuments and Sites: Norway - A Cultural Heritage'' (Aschehoug AS) {{authority control Villages in Buskerud Modum