Kongevgen: Tyinkrysset – Øye

Kongevegen over Filefjell, (King’s Road through the Filefjell Mountains) is an over 100 km long hiking and cycling trail connecting towns Lærdal and Vang. In the past, this route was part of the main road connecting East and West Norway, Bergen and Oslo. Today, the E16 route runs almost parallel, and Kongevegen over Filefjell is a tourist gem of the region. 110 km is divided into 11 sections, so there is no need to struggling with the entire distance at once.

The section Tyinkrysset – Øye was supposed to be an easy and pleasant fulfilment to the hike I already made. And it really was. I was hoping for a quite flat route, but I realized that it is largely inclined in such a way that I was going down almost all the time. The idea to make this route in this direction turned out to be brilliant.

I started my hike on Kongevegen right after I left the Filefjell Mountains. The trail crossed a group of holiday houses and the Grovstølen ski resort. As soon as I found the distinctive sign of a royal carriage, I knew I was on the right track. I had to cross the E16 road twice and then the trail led me into the forest. On the Tyinkrysset – Øye section there are not so spectacular views that I remember from the previous parts of the route. Most of the time you go through the woods. The hike is pleasant, the road is wide (with one exception when it turns into a narrow and terribly overgrown path) and, apart from the lack of views, there is nothing to complain about. At the end, the forest road ends and we are on the asphalt road leading to Øye, right next to a large bay with a parking lot and information boards about the historic King’s Road.

There is a beautiful wooden church in Øye, one of the medieval stave churches. I was hoping to get a tour of the modest interior combined with listening to the history of the temple. Unfortunately season of visiting the temple does not start until June 22. I was 10 days early. In that case, information about of the church are given from Wikipedia and info board in front of the temple.

The church was founded somewhere between 12th and 13th centuries. Originally, the building stood lower than today, right next to Vangsmjøse Lake. The area was often soaked with water, and during the spring thaws, there was even a risk of washing the coffins from the church cemetery from the ground. Hence, the inhabitants put stones in the coffins before the burial in order to add more weight. The church was demolished and replaced with a new stone temple in 1747. In 1930, during renovation works on the foundations, wooden elements of the old stave church were found under the floor and it was decided to rebuilt it. Yes, this beautiful medieval building that we can admire nowadays is only partially original. The new church was consecrated in 1965 and is still used today, but only during ceremonies such as weddings or during the mass on the occasion of the summer solstice.

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