Discover Eivindvik

Eivindvik turns the spotlight on its cultural history: Gulen Church, two differently shaped stone crosses, memorial stones and historic trails shape the themes of the place. A walking tour can bring together architecture, local history and literature. If you choose Eivindvik for its cultural sites, you can plan your visit around these different landmarks.

Local character and historical orientation

Gulen Church stands on a hill in the centre of Eivindvik and offers an impressive view over the Gulafjord. A stone staircase leads up to the church from Prestekaia. The historic cultural walk through Eivindvik passes the stone crosses, the church and the town centre. Krossteigen refers to the area between the church and the cross behind the municipal building. The oldest Gulating assembly site was probably located near the medieval church site, in the area between the two stone crosses.

Church, crosses and memorial sites

Gulen Church is a wooden long church with 700 seats. Provost Thomas Eriksen consecrated it on 13 December 1863. Inside the church is a cubic stone baptismal font, 60 centimetres high, which probably dates from around the year 1000.

A Celtic stone cross stands at the cemetery gate: it is 2.85 metres high and 1.15 metres wide, and belongs to the small group of Norwegian-Celtic stone crosses. An Anglian stone cross is unique in form among Norway’s 60 stone crosses. The two crosses therefore differ not only in appearance, but also in classification.

Two memorial sites commemorate different chapters of history. The memorial to the fallen bears the names of 16 people from the former municipality of Gulen who died in the Second World War. A memorial stone in the cemetery commemorates 16 English marines who died in December 1917.

Building history and literary traces

Herresalen is a white Empire-style house below the church. Built in 1819, it was the main building of the vicarage. The guided tour of Eivindvik covers Provost Niels Griis Alstrup Dahl, known as the “Potato Priest”, and his reforming work in Gulen. It also tells of Henrik Wergeland’s visit to Dahl in the summer of 1832 and the poem “Eivindvig” that resulted from it.

Gulatinget in Flolid and nearby routes

The Gulatinget Millennium Site is in Flolid, four kilometres east of Eivindvik, and features monumental artworks by Bård Breivik. Guided tours at the nearby site present the history of Gulatinget, the Gulatings law and the Leidang, and also cover the artworks. This nearby destination thus complements Eivindvik’s cultural and historical sites with additional topics.

The Gulatinget site can be reached from Sollibotn on foot, by bike or by bus; the walking route described passes through Eivindvik. A cultural and historical cycling route runs from Sollibotn through Eivindvik to the Millennium Park in Flolid. If you are planning to travel by bus, check the current timetables in advance. The historic cultural walk in Eivindvik and the route to Flolid offer different ways to include local cultural themes in your travel plans.

Discover more destinations: Gulen, Byrknesøy, Dalsöyra, Ånneland, Byrknes, Åsheim, Brekke, Mjømna.

Back to the main travel overview: Gulen.