Otternes bygdetun
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If you look over the road, we are now passing Otternes bygdetun, which is a leading example of how clusters of houses, agricultural and cultural landscapes were formed in the fjord area of Vestlandet in times gone by. Today, Otternes is a part of the open fjord landscape, and as such was an important reason why the Western Norwegian fjord landscape was entered onto UNESCO’s World Heritage List. Otternes has traces of a settlement dating from the older iron age from the year 300. Whilst the oldest houses date back to around 1700. Such a farm was like a small village and during the 18th century around 30 people lived in Otternes. The reason that the houses and the cultural landscape are unusually well preserved, is that two of the farms were run in the traditional way right up until the 1970s. Therefore, the cultural landscape with inland areas, wells, stone walls, ground fences and roads were kept intact. Today, the 27 historic buildings on the cluster yard are run by a foundation and are open to the public.