Museum | Cultural Heritage

Kaupang viking town

Situated along Tunsbergleden
Kaupang was the first Norwegian town during the viking age. There is now a museum here where you can learn about the history, and the culture that was here during the viking age.

Phone

+47 90622744

Opening hours

Summer: open every day, except Mondays
Winter: it is possible to visit the museum on appointment. Get in touch via email or phone.

Price

NOK 100

Kaupang was founded around year 800. The size of the town and the surrounding burial grounds indicates that the number of inhabitants was around 200 on average. The port town was located at the mouth of the Oslo Fjord but was well protected from wind and weather.

Kaupang was one of the first settlements in Scandinavia where goods were traded on a large scale. Silver was used as means of payment. Kaupang was part of an international network of trading and attracted goods from many parts of the world of the Vikings: slate from Western Norway, drinking cups from the Frankish Kingdom, coins from the Caliphate, Slavic ceramics and glass pearls from the Byzantine Empire.

 

Norgeshistorie.no, Unn PedersenJon Vidar Sigurdsson, «Vikingtidsbyen Kaupang». Copied and translated 16. jan. 2024 from https://www.norgeshistorie.no/vikingtid/0804-vikingtidsbyen-kaupang.html.

 

European Cultural Route

Tunsbergleden is part of a European cultural route called St. Olav Ways to Nidaros (ACSOW), which leads through Finland, Sweden, and Denmark to its destination in Norway. Estonia and England are also members of the route. The European Cultural Routes program, initiated by the Council of Europe, connects networks that share a theme or value common to Europe. The cultural routes aim to promote the Council of Europe’s core principles: human rights, democracy, cultural diversity and identity, dialogue, and mutual exchange across borders.

St. Olav Ways: https://www.acsow.org/

Kaupang in Larvik, Vikingodden in Tønsberg, and the Borre Mounds in Horten are also part of another cultural route, The Viking Routes.

Read more here:

https://www.coe.int/en/web/cultural-routes/the-viking-routes

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