October 6, 2024
Vesterålen is an archipelago in Northern Norway. Its name comes from Old Norse. The first element is vestr, which means “west,” and the last element is áll, which means “(deep and narrow) sound” or “strait”.
Trondenes
I came on this excursion to see Trondenes Church, although all of Vesterlain proved to be stunningly beautiful.
Trondenes Church is Norway’s northernmost medieval stone church and the world’s northernmost surviving medieval building. It is also one of the largest stone churches in Norway.
Though frequently referred to as a 13th-century church, dating based on dendrochronology, its completion was shortly after 1434. The Church is well preserved, with the exterior condition still close to the original state.
The church bells in their outbuilding
The church bells once hung from a turret, but the turret has long since been demolished, and the bells now ring from this small white tower in the graveyard.
The baptismal font is one of the oldest remaining items on the church’s interior.
The windows show how thick the church’s walls are.
The door goes back centuries
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There is a cultural center and museum next door to the church.
An old Stave Church
This is a replica of what many feel was the original stave church on the site. It is thought that the stone of the Trondenes Church was built around the original wooden stave church.
A wall of prisoners from WWII
During WWII, up to 1200 POWs were crammed into a camp at Trondenes. They had been brought here to build the nearby coastal fortification “Batterie Theo” MKB 5/511 with its four massive 40,6 Cm guns. Approximately 800 of the prisoners died here through starvation, sickness, cold, hard labor, and murder. The dead POWs were buried between the camp and the old church, and in 1951/52, the cemetery was exhumed, and the bodies were relocated to the War Cemetery at Tjøtta further south in Northern Norway in what became known as “Operation Asphalt”.
The above wall pays homage to the men who died in the camp.
The wall is made up of individual cards of each POW.
The balance of this excursion was riding on a bus through Vesterålen. Vesterålen consists of several islands, the three largest being Andøya, Hadseløya, and Langøya.
Major regional employers include fisheries and other marine industries, tourism, healthcare, and education.
Salmon farming in Vesterålen
Located still in the Arctic Circle, the area is stunning.
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A river is emptying into the fjord. Here, the water is brackish and has some tidal action.
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The clear water of the fjord lets you see anemones and fish.
The sunrise this morning just before pulling into Harstad
Sailing into Trollfjord
Trollfjord is Tucked between the towering peaks of the Lofoten Islands. At just 1.2 miles long, it’s one of the smaller fjords in Norway. And it was filled with eagles today.
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