Åmøy is an

island An island or isle is a piece of land, distinct from a continent, completely surrounded by water. There are continental islands, which were formed by being split from a continent by plate tectonics, and oceanic islands, which have never been ...

Stavanger Municipality Stavanger, officially the Stavanger Municipality, is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Norway. It is the third largest city and third largest metropolitan area in Norway (through conurbation with neighboring Sandnes) and the ...

Rogaland Rogaland () is a Counties of Norway, county in Western Norway, bordering the North Sea to the west and the counties of Vestland to the north, Telemark to the east and Agder to the east and southeast. As of 1 January 2024, it had a population of 49 ...

county,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. The island lies just north of the city of Stavanger in a group of islands. The islands of Sokn and Bru both lie to the west of Åmøy and the islands of

Mosterøy Mosterøy is a List of former municipalities of Norway, former municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. The administrative centre was the village of Askje where the Askje Church is located. The municipality existed from 1884 until 1965. The ...

and

Rennesøy Rennesøy is a former municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. It was merged into Stavanger municipality on 1 January 2020. It was located in the traditional district of Ryfylke. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of ...

lie to the north, and the island of Hidle lies to the east.

Geography

The island is a long, narrow island with a very narrow

isthmus An isthmus (; : isthmuses or isthmi) is a narrow piece of land connecting two larger areas across an expanse of water by which they are otherwise separated. A tombolo is an isthmus that consists of a spit or bar, and a strait is the sea count ...

in the middle. Historically, the island was divided between two municipalities. The western part of the island (''Vestre Åmøy'') was part of

municipality and the eastern part (''Austre Åmøy'') was part of Stavanger municipality. Both halves of the island had their own chapel,

Austre Åmøy Chapel Austre Åmøy Chapel () is a chapel of the Church of Norway in Stavanger Municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. It is located on the eastern part of the small island of Åmøy. It is an chapel of ease, annex chapel in the Mosterøy parish which ...

and

Vestre Åmøy Chapel Vestre Åmøy Chapel () is a chapel of the Church of Norway in Stavanger Municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. It is located on the western end of the small island of Åmøy. It is an annex chapel in the Mosterøy parish which is part of the ...

. In 2014, there were 618 people living on the island with 328 living on the Rennesøy part and the remaining 290 people living in the Stavanger part. In 2020, all of Rennesøy municipality was merged into Stavanger. Åmøy sorts under the borough of

Tasta Tasta is a borough of the city of Stavanger which lies in the southwestern part of the large municipality of Stavanger in Rogaland county, Norway. The borough is located in the northern part of the city. The borough has a population (2016) of ...

in Stavanger. The island was served by local boats for many years. In 1992, Åmøy was connected to the mainland via road bridge to Sokn, with further connection to the subsea Byfjord Tunnel.

History

Nearly 1,000 rock carvings, dated from the

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

, are found at the island. Among the picture motifs are people, animals, fish, ships and tools. Ostensibly, the Meling farm, claims to have the "largest concentration of rock carvings in Rogaland." Larger petroglyph fields are signed and open to the public. It is claimed that they were the product of a "cult" that viewed "the sun san animating factor." Many varieties of ships appear, and are evidently a significant religious symbol metaphorically interpreted as symbols of holiness, power, and means of transportation to the sun and divinity. There have also been found prehistoric sites from the Stone Age and Iron Age, including

burial mounds A tumulus (: tumuli) is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds, mounds, howes, or in Siberia and Central Asia as ''kurgans'', and may be found throughout much of the world. ...

and foundations for living houses and boathouses.

References

External links

* * {{authority control Islands of Rogaland Stavanger

Geography

History

See also

References

External links