Would you like to gain some fascinating insights about Helgeland? One of the best ways to do so is to visit Helgeland Museum. Actually it’s not just one museum – there are 18 museum facilities spread throughout the region. Each highlights some aspects of Helgeland’s history, cultural heritage or natural history.
These 18 museums, as well as various other worthwhile exhibitions, will give you a deeper understanding of the people who live here, their livelihoods and traditions, and the landscape that surrounds them.
See the museums
Rana Museum, Stenneset open-air Museum and Bredek Mountain Farm
Rana municipality has a fascinating and varied history, which the exhibitions at MOment, the new museum in Mo i Rana’s town centre, reveals in the form of a multi-sensory experience.In addition, at Stenneset’s open-air museum, you can stroll amongst 20 historic buildings, while the mountain farm at Brenek is a popular hiking destination.
Bindal Museum and the old croft at Vassås
Bindal Museum at Terråk documents local forestry, boatbuilding and other wood-working traditions. It contrasts past and present practices. The museum also includes Bindal Bygdetun, an open-air museum at an authentic old croft at Vassås, 2.5 km north of Terråk.
Grane Museum
Laksforsen nature and cultural gallery tells the history of the Salmon River Vefsna, specifically its use and recreation close to one of Norway’s most fantastic waterfalls. You’ll find the gallery in the lower floor of Laksforsen café, approximately 30 km south of Mosjøen and approximately 8 km north of Trofors in Grane.
Sømna Bygdetun – An open-air museum
Sømna Bygdetun highlights how the lives of fishermen-farmers and their families changed in the course of the years 1800–1950.
Hattfjelldal Museum
In Hattfjelldal it is Fjellfolkets Hus (House of the mountain people) which is the museums home base. Here you’ll find great exhibitions and disseminations services about the place. In the house there is also a Tourist Information Office, a café, accommodation and place for meetings and events.
Jacobsenbrygga and the folk museum in Mosjøen
The Vefsn Museum has numerous exhibitions at several locations in and around the town of Mosjøen. These focus on everything from rural life and urban history, to weapons smuggling and the work of the Norwegian resistance during Nazi Germany’s World War II occupation. You can also join a guided tour of the historical street Sjøgata, which is lined with 19th-century houses.
Nordvika Old Trading Post, on Dønna
The old trading post at Nordvika is one of the oldest and most intact in all of Nordland County. The museum is beautifully situated between towering mountains on the island of Dønna, just a ferry ride from its nearest town, Sandnessjøen.
Velfjord Museum
The Brønnøy and Velfjord districts share an ancient history of fishing and farming, as well as a proud indigenous Sámi culture. You can gain many cultural insights by visiting the exhibitions in the old supermarket at Minnetun, as well as in the goahti (reconstructed turf hut) near here.
Ristning-Tjaalege, Vevelstad museum and bygdetun
Not far from the Forvik ferry terminal lies the new museum building Ristning–Tjaalege and the local heritage site, side by side with Vevelstad Church. Around the museum, you can find intriguing ancient monuments such as rock art (petroglyphs) and burial mounds from the Iron Age.
Træna museum
Træna Museum documents the this archipelago’s history going back to the Stone Age. Some of the archaeological discoveries displayed date back at least 9000 years. For this reason, Træna can rightfully call itself “the oldest fishing community in Norway”.
