Norway
Bronnoysund
Brønnøysund: Torghatten, the Mountain With a Hole Through It
- Port traffic
- QuietNext 30 days
Good to know
What to Expect
Coastal voyage ships tie up in the town. Other cruise ships call here too, and your line will tell you where yours berths and how long you have ashore.
- Hurtigruten calls every day, northbound at night and southbound in the afternoon.
- Brønnøysund sits on a narrow peninsula surrounded by islands, and Torghatten can be seen from the town.
- Check your ship's daily program for the time you are due back aboard, because time in port varies by line and season.
Brønnøysund on Your Own
Brønnøysund's church and sculpture are in town and its wartime fort just outside, but its landmark, Torghatten, is about 15 km away by road on the island of Torget. On a short call, stay in town; with a longer one, go out to the mountain by road.
- In town: Brønnøy Church, a stone church from 1870 on a site with a church since about 1200, stands in the Sørbyen district. Erik Dietman's sculpture Steinar Breiflabb sits on a small island in the middle of the sound.
- Torghatten: The walk up to the hole takes about 20 minutes on a well-made path, and you can walk through the mountain. Going up one side, down the other and around the mountain takes about an hour.
- Skarsåsen: Just outside town, the Second World War coastal fort at Skarsåsen has a gun position, a searchlight, trenches and tunnels.
- Getting back on time: All-aboard is usually about 30 minutes before departure, and your ship posts the exact time. Coastal voyage ships keep to a timetable, and no ship waits for passengers touring on their own. Allow for the drive back from Torghatten.
Getting Around
Brønnøysund is the hub for southern Helgeland, with boats to the islands, buses inland and an airport close to town. The road to Torghatten leaves town over the Brønnøysund Bridge.
- The 550-meter Brønnøysund Bridge crosses to Hestøya, and county road 54 continues across the islands to Torghatten.
- Express boats run from Brønnøysund to Ylvingen and to Vega, the main island of the Vega Archipelago.
- Brønnøysund Airport is about 2 km from the center, with direct flights to Oslo, Trondheim, Bodø and Sandnessjøen.
- Buses run to the railway station at Grong and to Mosjøen and Sandnessjøen.
Torghatten and the Coast
Torghatten is the town's landmark, visible from the center, and local legend explains it as an arrow shot through a troll king's hat. Offshore, the Vega Archipelago keeps a way of life built on fishing, farming and eider down.
- The tunnel through Torghatten is about 160 meters long and sits about 115 meters above the sea at its midpoint. Geologists now think ice and meltwater in the ice ages, as well as waves, cut it.
- In the legend, the troll Hestmannen shot an arrow at the maiden Lekamøya, and the troll king of Sømna threw his hat into its path. The hat turned to stone with the arrow's hole through it.
- On the Vega islands, people have for generations built small houses for nesting eider ducks and gathered the down. The archipelago has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2004.
- The local dialect has an intonation that sounds Swedish, which may come from the settlers who moved in from Sweden and southern Norway after 1240.
- The Brønnøysund Register Centre, a national government register agency, is based in the town.
History
Brønnøysund's story runs from a Viking-age chieftain's seat at the foot of Torghatten to a regional town that has held town status twice. Its name comes from the freshwater wells that seafarers found on the island of Brønnøya.
- The Viking age: Torgar, at the foot of Torghatten, was the seat of a powerful chieftain and a trading center on the coast.
- A church, about 1200: The first church at Brønnøy was probably built around 1200 and is recorded in 1386. Lightning fires in 1772 and 1866 led to the present stone church of 1870.
- Around 1240: In Norway's civil wars, Duke Skule's men killed the area's original inhabitants. Settlers from southern Norway, Trøndelag and Sweden later moved in.
- The name, 1334: The form Brunney is recorded in 1334. It comes from the Old Norse word for a well or spring, because sailors could find drinking water on the island.
- A town, 1923 to 1964: Brønnøysund became a town and a municipality of its own on January 1, 1923. It lost town status when it merged into Brønnøy Municipality in 1964.
- May 1945: At the end of the war, Soviet prisoners of war who had been held on Ylvingen were shipped out from Brønnøysund's harbor.
- A town again, 2000: Brønnøy's council made Brønnøysund a town once more in 2000.
- To learn more ashore: The coastal fort at Skarsåsen, just outside town, keeps its Second World War gun position, trenches and tunnels.
Brønnøysund with Children
Torghatten is the family outing here, because a short, well-made path climbs to the hole and children can walk right through the mountain. Back in town, a sheltered swimming area with diving towers is within walking distance of the center.
- Younger children: The path up to the hole takes about 20 minutes.
- School age: Go up one side, down the other and around the mountain in about an hour.
- Teenagers: The trenches and tunnels of Skarsåsen fort, just outside town, show how the coast was defended in the Second World War.
- A summer swim: Svarthopen, a sheltered seawater bathing area toward the airport, has diving towers 3 and 6 meters high, a floating jetty and a roped line between deep and shallow water.
Accessibility
The coastal ship quay is in the town, and Torghatten can be seen from the town. Reaching the hole means an uphill walk of about 20 minutes.
- The hole sits about 115 meters above sea level and is reached by an uphill path. The way through the tunnel is a natural path rather than a made one.
- Torghatten is about 15 km from town by road, so you need road transport to reach the foot of the path.
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