Torridal is a
V-shaped valley in
Agder
Agder is a county (''fylke'') and traditional region in the southern part of Norway. The county was established on 1 January 2020, when the old Vest-Agder and Aust-Agder counties were merged. Since the early 1900s, the term Sørlandet ("sou ...
county,
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a 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 Jan Mayen and t ...
. The valley passes through portions of the municipalities of
Kristiansand
Kristiansand is a seaside resort city and Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Agder county, Norway. The city is the fifth-largest and the municipality the sixth-largest in Norway, with a population of around 112,000 as of January 2020, f ...
and
Vennesla
Vennesla is a municipality in Agder county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Sørlandet. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Vennesla. Other villages in Vennesla include Grovane, Hægeland, Homst ...
in an area that was historically a part of the former
Oddernes municipality. Today it includes areas north of the city center of
Kristiansand
Kristiansand is a seaside resort city and Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Agder county, Norway. The city is the fifth-largest and the municipality the sixth-largest in Norway, with a population of around 112,000 as of January 2020, f ...
on both riverbanks of the river
Otra
The Otra is the largest river in the Sørlandet region of Norway. It begins in Setesdalsheiene mountains at the lake Breidvatnet in Bykle municipality in Agder county, just south of the border with Vinje municipality in Vestfold og Telemark co ...
. The local name
Torridalselva (meaning ''Torridal river'') is commonly used for the river's lower course from
Mosby to the sea.

The valley includes the areas of
Sødal, Skråstad, Lian, Hagen, and Glattetre on the east side of the river and
Strai, Hommeren,
Aukland,
Mosby, and Høie on the west side. The districts of Espestøl, Hemmes, Mestad, Aurebekk, Rypestøl, and Kulia are also part of the valley, although they don't lie directly along the river.
The Mosby and Strai areas are fairly densely populated, and the
Torridal Church lies between those two villages. The Torridal sporting venue has facilities outdoors and indoors in Torridalshallen.
Norwegian National Road 9
Norwegian National Road 9 ( no, Riksvei 9, ) is often called the ''Setesdal Road'' ( no, Setesdalsveien) and it is the main thoroughfare through the Setesdalen valley. It runs from the city of Kristiansand in the southern coast of Norway, throu ...
(Setesdalsveien) and the
Sørlandet Line
The Sørlandet Line ( no, Sørlandsbanen) is a railway line between Drammen (though this is connected to Oslo by means of the Drammen Line) via Kristiansand to Stavanger. The line is long between Oslo and Stavanger.
History
The railway was cons ...
both run along the west side of the river Otra, through the Torridal valley.
Norwegian County Road 1 ("Sødalssida") runs along the east bank of Otra.
References
Valleys of Agder
Geography of Kristiansand
Vennesla
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