Mefjorden or Mefjord is a small
fjord
In physical geography, a fjord (also spelled fiord in New Zealand English; ) is a long, narrow sea inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created by a glacier. Fjords exist on the coasts of Antarctica, the Arctic, and surrounding landmasses of the n ...
in
Sandefjord Municipality
Sandefjord () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Vestfold. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Sandefjord ...
in
Vestfold
Vestfold () is a county and a current electoral district in Norway. Located on the western shore of the Oslofjord, it borders Buskerud and Telemark counties. The county administration is located in Tønsberg, Norway's oldest city, and the larg ...
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 long fjord lies in-between two long, narrow peninsulas:
Vesterøya
Vesterøya () a peninsula in Sandefjord Municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. It is one of two long, narrow peninsulas located south of the Sandefjord (town), city of Sandefjord. The peninsula lies between the Mefjorden and Sandefjordsfjorden ...
and
Østerøya
Østerøya () a peninsula in Sandefjord Municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. It is one of two long, narrow peninsulas located south of the Sandefjord (town), city of Sandefjord. The peninsula lies between the Mefjorden and Tønsbergfjorden an ...
. It is a narrow fjord with many minor islands and islets.
Tourism
There are many, many
vacation homes
A holiday cottage, holiday home, vacation home, or vacation property is accommodation used for holiday vacations, corporate travel, and temporary housing often for less than 30 days. Such properties are typically small homes, such as cottage ...
on both sides of the fjord. Additionally, there is a large campground, ''Strand Leirsted'', that is located on its east side. Several islands in the fjord are also home to vacation homes, including Grindholmen, Storholmen, and Brattholmen islands.
History
The fjord was historically known as Midtfjorden (). During the
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 ...
, a royal lodge () was located at
Gokstad
The Gokstad Mound (Norwegian: Gokstadhaugen) is a large burial mound at Gokstad Farm in Sandefjord (formerly Sandar municipality) in Vestfold County, Norway. It is also known as the King's Mound (''Kongshaugen'') and is where the 9th century Gok ...
at the innermost part of the fjord. It is also the fjord used when burying Olav Geirstadr-Alv and the
Gokstad Ship
The Gokstad ship is a 9th-century Viking ship found in a burial mound at Gokstad in Sandar, Norway, Sandar, Sandefjord, Vestfold, Norway. It is displayed at the Viking Ship Museum (Oslo), Viking Ship Museum in Oslo, Norway. It is the largest pr ...
in the 9th century.
See also
*
List of Norwegian fjords
This list of Norwegian fjords shows many of the fjords in Norway. In total, there are about 1,190 fjords in Norway and the Svalbard islands. The sortable list includes the lengths and locations of those fjords.
Fjords
See also
* List of gla ...
References
Sandefjord
Fjords of Vestfold
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