Vindhella - Sverrestigen
The Vindhella - Sverrestigen tour is one of the most popular tours on Kongevegen over Filefjell. It takes place in a vast historical landscape. The round trip takes Vindhella on one side and Sverrestigen on the other. You can start at both roads at Rimskjold/ Husum in the west, or at Borgund stave church in the east. Or you can start the tour where Vindhellavegen actually starts 350 meters east of the stave church centre.
Facts:
Duration: 1,5 - 2,5h
Distance: 4,6 km
Difficulty: Medium
Suitable for: Everyone
If you start at the stave church, you start the walk by going behind the red new church and following the signs. You can then park at Svartegjel nearby. History tells that in October 1177, King Sverre took the Sverrestigen to bypass the farmers who were ready to ease stones and logs into the heads of the birch bones that were to pass. King Sverre attacked the peasants in the rear, and chased them to flight. Vindhellavegen is the 2,7 km long road that runs through high walls through Vindhellaskaret. The road was built according to new constructuin principles that were partly unproven in Norway at the time.
The old King's Road from the 1790s is visible between the windings and outside the route here. Originally, King's Road had a gradient of 1:4. When they built Bergenske Hovedvej on top in the 1840s, they tried to remedy this, but got an increase of 1:5. In other words, King's Road and Bergenske Hovedvej were not big successes. Due to the ascent, which was still steep, Vindhellavegen had a service life of 30 years. In 1872 it was replaced by a new road along the river through Nesbergi. This was the E-16 until the Borgund tunnel opened in 2004. From Sverrestigen, Klantestien and Annastien also go back to Vindhella. Feel free to write your name in the tour books which are in the various mailboxes along the route.
And then of course you have to visit Borgund stave church, the most authentic and best preserved stave church in the world.
