Måbødalen () is a narrow valley in Eidfjord Municipality in

Vestland Vestland is a Counties of Norway, county in Norway. The county is located in Western Norway, and its administrative centre is Bergen, where the executive and political leadership is based. The County governor (Norway), County Governor is based in ...

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 valley begins at the village of

Øvre Eidfjord Øvre Eidfjord is a village in Eidfjord municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The village is located at the southern end of the lake Eidfjordvatnet, about south of the municipal centre of Eidfjord. Øvre Eidfjord sits along the Bjoreio River ...

and ends at the Sysendalen valley on the western side of the

Hardangervidda Hardangervidda () is a mountain plateau ( Norwegian: ''vidde'') in central southern Norway, covering parts of Vestland, Telemark, and Buskerud counties. It is the largest plateau of its kind in Europe, with a cold year-round alpine climate, and o ...

plateau. The valley contains one of the most notable waterfalls in the country: Vøringfossen, which is easily accessible via

Norwegian National Road 7 Norwegian National Road 7 (, ) is a national road in Norway which runs from the town of Hønefoss in Buskerud county to the village of Granvin in Vestland county. The route is long and runs east–west through Viken and Vestland counties ove ...

(Rv7). The first road through the Måbødalen valley was built from 1900 to 1916. Consisting of three tunnels and three bridges, including the Måbø Bridge, it is characterized by its many

hairpin turn A hairpin turn (also hairpin bend or hairpin corner) is a bend in a road with a very acute inner angle, making it necessary for an oncoming vehicle to turn about 180° to continue on the road. It is named for its resemblance to a bent metal ha ...

s. The road is widely used by pedestrians and cyclists today and it is regarded as a good example of early 20th century road engineering. This was the first road connection between Eastern and Western Norway over the

plateau when it was finally completed in 1928. A new road through Måbødalen was opened in 1986, and it replaced the old road (which was not removed). The new road is wider and has many more tunnels to replace the narrow, old road and all its hairpin turns. The Måbødalen bus accident occurred in 1988 on the new road. The Fossli Hotel is situated on top of the mountain, overlooking the Måbødalen valley and the Vøringfossen waterfall, just off Rv7. The hotel owns a Zimmermann piano where

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

composed ''Norwegian Folk Songs,'' Opus 66 (1896). In 1854, Johan Christian Dahl painted ''Måbødalen'', a landscape painting of the area. The painting is in the art museum in

Bergen Bergen (, ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo. By May 20 ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Maaboedalen Valleys of Vestland Eidfjord