Osa is a tiny settlement at the end of the Osafjorden, a 13-kilometre branch of the Hardangerfjord east of Ulvik. The road ends here. Beyond Osa, there are only abandoned farms along the fjord, once reached by boat.
The cultural landscape is striking: wide terraces and a river delta sit against steep hillsides where Norddalen leads up to the mountains. In 1875, as many as 14 smallholders farmed here, using every blade of grass and tree for fodder. That careful land use shaped the landscape you see today.
A short walk from the settlement, the river Austdøla drops over 20 metres at Røykjafossen. Nearby, in the engineers' houses left over from a failed hydropower venture (Osa Fossekompani, 1915-1926), Hjadlane Galleri shows contemporary art in summer.
The painter Lars Osa, who decorated Ulvik church, was born here. The hike up to Ossete, the old summer pasture farm above Osa, is steep but gives a good view back down over the fjord.
The cultural landscape is striking: wide terraces and a river delta sit against steep hillsides where Norddalen leads up to the mountains. In 1875, as many as 14 smallholders farmed here, using every blade of grass and tree for fodder. That careful land use shaped the landscape you see today.
A short walk from the settlement, the river Austdøla drops over 20 metres at Røykjafossen. Nearby, in the engineers' houses left over from a failed hydropower venture (Osa Fossekompani, 1915-1926), Hjadlane Galleri shows contemporary art in summer.
The painter Lars Osa, who decorated Ulvik church, was born here. The hike up to Ossete, the old summer pasture farm above Osa, is steep but gives a good view back down over the fjord.
