Eivindvik

Eivindvik combines an impressive cultural history with remarkable stone monuments. Gulen Church, on the hill in the town centre, offers views across the Gulafjord; two distinctive stone crosses and memorial sites tell further chapters of the town’s story. If you are looking for a cultural focus for your trip, you will find connections here ranging from medieval history to the routes to Flolid.

Church, fjord views and the history of the vicarage

The wooden Gulen Church is a long church with 700 seats. Provost Thomas Eriksen consecrated it on 13 December 1863. Its location on a hill in the centre of Eivindvik links the church building with impressive views across the Gulafjord. The church also contains a stone baptismal font with a cubic shape. It is 60 centimetres high and is believed to date from around the year 1000.

Below the church stands Herresalen, a white house in the Empire style. Dahl built it in 1819; it was the main building of the vicarage. A guided tour of Eivindvik covers Provost Niels Griis Alstrup Dahl, known as the “potato vicar”, and his reformist 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. In this way, the town’s history extends beyond its buildings to include people and cultural memories.

Stone crosses and memorial sites

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. Another cross in Eivindvik is distinguished by its Anglian form: in this respect, it is unique among Norway’s 60 stone crosses. The different descriptions make clear that the crosses are not simply identical monuments.

Krossteigen refers to the area between Eivindvik Church and the cross behind the municipal building. The oldest Gulating assembly site was probably located by the medieval church site, in the area between the two stone crosses. Eivindvik therefore has its own connection to the history of the Gulating assembly; the Gulating Millennium Site, by contrast, is in Flolid, four kilometres east of the town.

Two memorial stones commemorate different groups and events. The memorial to the fallen in Eivindvik bears 16 names of people from the municipality of Gulen at the time who lost their lives in the Second World War. Another memorial stone in the cemetery commemorates 16 English sailors who lost their lives in December 1917. These memorial sites complement the history of the church and crosses with specific memories of loss.

Cultural routes between Eivindvik and Flolid

A historical cultural walk in Eivindvik passes the stone crosses, the church and the town centre. In addition, cultural walking routes have been established in Eivindvik and Flolid, which can be followed on a mobile device or iPad. If you would rather explore the cultural history by bicycle, you can follow the route from Sollibotn via Eivindvik to the Millennium Park in Flolid.

The Gulating Millennium Site in Flolid features monumental artworks by Bård Breivik. Guided tours there present the history of the Gulating assembly, the Gulating Law and the Leidang, as well as the artworks. The site can be reached from Sollibotn on foot, by bicycle or by bus; the described hike passes through Eivindvik. This gives you a choice of different focuses: the historical walk in the town, the cycling route or a visit to the site in Flolid. Eivindvik is considered an important place on the Coastal Pilgrim Route because of its exceptional historical, traditional and cultural value.

If you would like to discover more places: Gulen, Byrknesøy, Ånneland, Åsheim, Dalsöyra, Byrknes, Mjømna, Brekke.

Go to the main travel overview: Gulen.