The Sunnmøre Museum is an open-air folk museum about 5 minutes' drive east of Ålesund centre. It was founded in 1931 and covers around 50 hectares along the Borgundfjord. There are over 55 historic buildings here, everything from mountain huts and fishermen's shacks to old schools and boathouses, moved from locations across the Sunnmøre region.
The boat collection is one of the largest in the country. In the boat hall and down by the museum quay you will find traditional Sunnmøre boats alongside replicas of Viking-age vessels, including the Borgundknarren, a copy of a medieval merchant ship. There is also the M/K Heland, a fishing boat that took part in the so-called Shetland Bus during the Second World War, the secret transport route between Norway and Scotland.
But what makes this place truly special is what lies in the ground next to it. The museum sits beside Borgundkaupangen, a medieval trading town that thrived from the Viking age through the 1200s. At its peak, Borgund had four stone churches, possibly clad in marble quarried from an island across the fjord. Merchant ships came from across Europe to trade dried fish. Then the climate cooled, the fishing declined, and the Black Death in 1349 killed more than half the population. By the 1500s the town was abandoned and eventually forgotten entirely. It was only rediscovered by accident in 1912 when a farmer hit an old wall during renovation work. Over 31 archaeological seasons since then, 45,000 artefacts have been found. The Medieval Museum on the premises is built directly over parts of the excavation site.
The boat collection is one of the largest in the country. In the boat hall and down by the museum quay you will find traditional Sunnmøre boats alongside replicas of Viking-age vessels, including the Borgundknarren, a copy of a medieval merchant ship. There is also the M/K Heland, a fishing boat that took part in the so-called Shetland Bus during the Second World War, the secret transport route between Norway and Scotland.
But what makes this place truly special is what lies in the ground next to it. The museum sits beside Borgundkaupangen, a medieval trading town that thrived from the Viking age through the 1200s. At its peak, Borgund had four stone churches, possibly clad in marble quarried from an island across the fjord. Merchant ships came from across Europe to trade dried fish. Then the climate cooled, the fishing declined, and the Black Death in 1349 killed more than half the population. By the 1500s the town was abandoned and eventually forgotten entirely. It was only rediscovered by accident in 1912 when a farmer hit an old wall during renovation work. Over 31 archaeological seasons since then, 45,000 artefacts have been found. The Medieval Museum on the premises is built directly over parts of the excavation site.