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Left: Lesja Village Museum is one of three open-air museums at Gudbrandsdaldsmusea. Photo: Tor Ivan Boine. Top right: The paths of St. Olav’s Way take travellers through beautiful nature and scenery. Photo: Per Gunnar Hagelien. Right: Lesja Village Museum provides visitors with both nature and history. Photo: Tor Ivan Boine. Bottom: The cluster of 14 museum departments takes visitors on a journey through the history of Gudbrandsdalen. Photo: Per Gunnar Hagelien.
A cluster of themed historical museums in Oppland Gudbrandsdalsmusea is a regional museum for the valley of Gudbrandsdal, the largest valley in the Norwegian county of Oppland. The locations, from Ringebu in the south to Lesja in the north, feature 14 different departments all based on individual themes relating to nature, culture, art and heritage. By Line Elise Svanevik
Established as a consolidated museum in 2008, the cluster of locations displays historical buildings, open-air museums, a pilgrim centre and an archive for the middle and north of Gudbrandsdalen. It even has a folk music archive.
Lesja Village Museum The Lesja Village Museum is the biggest of three open-air village museums and is made up of 13 houses from the 18th and 19th centuries, put together to display what an old farm would look like. “In the summer, numerous volunteers come together to demonstrate different crafts from the old ages, from wood turning to sweet wrapping,” says Gunhild Mømb, daily manager of Lesja Village Museum. The museum locations feature different themes each year and host exhibitions that show traditional hunting, fishing and agriculture. There are several activities for children, and Lesja has a roundtrip 114 | Issue 103 | August 2017
where you can experience the fjords. There is also an exhibition displaying the hunting of wild reindeer.
Dale-Gudbrands Gard In close proximity to the museums is the farm Dale-Gudbrands Gard, which tells the story of King Olav Haraldsson’s meeting with the Viking chieftain Gudbrand of Dale in 1021. Olav Haraldsson brought Christianity to the valley and the inner eastern part of Norway; he later became known as St. Olav and people started a pilgrimage to his grave in Nidaros, Trondheim. Today, hundreds of people walk the pilgrim path in Gudbrandsdalen every year. “It’s a historical place that dates back to the Iron Age,” explains department manager of Gudbrandsdalsmusea, Per Gunnar Hagelien. “There have been archaeological findings and burials that have been documented back to the Iron
Age, and there are six remaining burial mounds in the surrounding area.”
Pilgrim centre Dale-Gudbrand The Pilgrim Centre is located at DaleGudbrands Gard, Oppland council’s millennial place, which was one of the locations chosen by the Norwegian councils to mark the shift to the 21st century. The centre provides information on the pilgrimage St. Olav’s Way, which is marked from Oslo to Trondheim, and helps pilgrims with places to stay, information about the path, and planning. Built on the pilgrimage tradition in Norway, the St. Olav’s Way takes visitors through scenic landscapes and beautiful trails, which have been used by travellers since the year 1031.
Web: www.gudbrandsdalsmusea.no