El camino de cultura en Mosterhamn

Place: Mosterhamn/Bømlo

Map of trip: Mosterhamn – Bømlo (1: 50 000)

Place of start and end: Moster Amfi

Parking: There are good parking facilities by Moster Old Church. Also buses might park here. Close to Moster Mine Park boat tourists can find good arrangements.

Marking: Information board at starting point. Moster Amfi and Tur- and the open-air group Dynamiske Mosterhamn have marked the track.

Grading: Green/Blue. Easy walk

Difference in height: 74m

Use of time: About three hours

Good advice: Some wet and slippery places, use adequate shoes.

Tour information: Start close to Moster Amfi

The first part of the track is concentrated around the the harbour of Moster and invite you to a historical walk back to 995 AD. If you stop by Moster Old Church you are informed about the story of Olav Trygvason who came from England in 995 to claim his royal inheritance and to christianize the people of Norway, and Olav Haraldsson and his bishop Grimkjell who introduced the Christian (Ecclesiastical) Law at the Mostra Thing (Assembly) in 1024. If you follow this path from the road by the church you come to Kyrkjestølen and Olavshola before you reach the top of Vetahaugen (Veta Hill), (the highest point of the track, 74m above sea level). On Vetahaugen you find the large stone cross, which was unveiled by King Håkon VII at the 900th anniversary in 1924. All this area has good signs with information about the many historical events.

From Vetahaugen you can follow the path down on the east side until it turns north towards Olavskjelda. Then you follow the road to Moster Amfi, the old limestone mine which during the 1980s was reconstructed into the most spectacural open-air stage in Northern Europe.  During the summer you can experience historical plays and great musicals here. Inside Moster Amfi  you will find the religious-historical exhibition “From Heathendom to Christianity”, the mine exhibition “The Stone Land of Bømlo”, and the Amfi Cafeteria.  Close to the entrance of the amphitheater you will find “The King’s Stone” where the first Christian Laws were read in 1024. The stone is also signed by King Olav V, King Harald and Queen Sonja. Tollhagen (the customs garden) is situated just down below the stone and has served the Customs from 1700 to about 1900. You can walk from Tollhagen through the tunnel to Gruveparken (the Mine Park), a large closed mine. Local initiative has rebuilt this mine into a beautiful beach and an open-air arena.

The other part of the track continues in Mosterhamn by the best preserved of many limestone furnaces in the region. The track takes you further from Mosterhamn over parts of the old post road (path) along Bømlafjorden and onto Marmorvegen (the Marble Road) at Notland. This idyllic area varies from open country with view to the fjord to tight deciduous forest. At Notland there are several historical mines with quays and systems of export, telling about the unique history of the Marble- and Limestone Operations in Synken which has left its mark on Moster from around 1000 and up to modern times. From Notlandsvåg you can follow the main road back to Mosterhamn.