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The Lofotr Viking Museum () 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.
File:Borg-Wikingermuseum-14-Langhaus-2019-gje.jpg, Entrance to the longhouse
File:Senja 17 083.jpg, Longhouse interior
File:Senja 17 080.jpg, Longhouse interior
File:Senja 17 082.jpg, Longhouse interior
File:Senja 17 076.jpg, Longhouse interior
File:NO-lofoten-wikingmuseum-wachsfiguren.jpg, Viking-era clothing
File:Lofotr Viking Boat House.jpg, Reconstructed Viking boat house
File:Lofotr - Viking smithy front view.jpg, Reconstructed Viking-era smithy
File:Lofotr Vikingmuseet Borg 19.06.2012 1.jpg, Reconstructed Viking boat
Museum Nord
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 were 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 settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9â ...
chieftain's village on the island of Vestvågøya
Vestvågøya (or less-commonly: ''Vest-Vågøy'') is an island in the Lofoten archipelago in Nordland county, Norway. The island is located within Vestvågøy Municipality. The island lies between the islands of Austvågøya and Gimsøya to t ...
in the Lofoten
Lofoten ( , ; ; ) is an archipelago and a Districts of Norway, 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. T ...
archipelago
An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands. An archipelago may be in an ocean, a sea, or a smaller body of water. Example archipelagos include the Aegean Islands (the o ...
in Nordland
Nordland (; , , , ) is one of the three northernmost Counties of Norway, counties in Norway in the Northern Norway region, bordering Troms in the north, Trøndelag in the south, Norrbotten County in Sweden to the east, Västerbotten County to t ...
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 ...
. It is located in the small village of Borg
The Borg are an alien group that appear as recurring antagonists in the ''Star Trek'' fictional universe. They are Cyborg, cybernetic organisms (cyborgs) linked in a Group mind (science fiction), hive mind called "The Collective". The Borg co- ...
, 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 Vestvågøy Municipality
Vestvågøy is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Nordland Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Districts of Norway, traditional district of Lofoten. The administrative centre of the municipality is the List of t ...
. It is part of the Museum Nord consortium.
History
In 1983,archaeologist
Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...
s uncovered the Chieftain House at Borg (''På Borg på Vestvågøya i Lofoten''), a large Viking Age
The Viking Age (about ) was the period during the Middle Ages when Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raiding, colonising, conquest, and trading throughout Europe and reached North America. The Viking Age applies not only to their ...
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 thePit Stop
Pitstop may refer to:
* Pit stop, in motor racing, when the car stops in the pits for fuel and other consumables to be renewed or replenished
* ''Pit Stop'' (1969 film), a movie directed by Jack Hill
* ''Pit Stop'' (2013 film), a movie directe ...
of the fourth leg in ''The Amazing Race 23
''The Amazing Race 23'' is the twenty-third season of the American reality competition show ''The Amazing Race (American TV series), The Amazing Race''. Hosted by Phil Keoghan, it featured eleven teams of two, each with a pre-existing relationsh ...
''.
Gallery
See also
*HĂĄlogaland
Hålogaland was the northernmost of the Norwegian provinces in the medieval Norse sagas. In the early Viking Age, before Harald Fairhair, Hålogaland was a kingdom extending between the Namdalen valley in Trøndelag county and the Lyng ...
*Archaeology of Northern Europe
The archaeology of Northern Europe studies the prehistory of Scandinavia and the adjacent North European Plain,
roughly corresponding to the territories of modern Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Northern Germany, Poland, the Netherlands and Belgium.
T ...
References
External links
Museum Nord
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