Gol Municipality
Gol kommune
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Coat of arms | |
Buskerud within Norway
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Gol within Buskerud
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| Coordinates: 60°45′1″N 8°59′5″E / 60.75028°N 8.98472°E / 60.75028; 8.98472 | |
| Country | Norway |
| County | Buskerud |
| District | Hallingdal |
| Administrative centre | Gol |
| Government | |
| • Mayor (2003) | Jan-Halvard Brekko (Ap) |
| Area | |
| • Total | 533 km2 (206 sq mi) |
| • Land | 514 km2 (198 sq mi) |
| • Rank | #200 in Norway |
| Population
(2004)
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| • Total | 4,372 |
| • Rank | #218 in Norway |
| • Density | 8/km2 (20/sq mi) |
| • Change (10 years) |  +1.4% |
| Demonym | Goling[1] |
| Official language | |
| • Norwegian form | Nynorsk |
| Time zone | UTC+01:00 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+02:00 (CEST) |
| ISO 3166 code | NO-3324[3] |
| Website | Official website |
Gol (pronunciationⓘ) is a municipalityinBuskerud county, Norway. It is part of the traditional regionofHallingdal. The administrative center of the municipality is the village of Gol which is also the population center. Gol was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). The area of Hemsedal was separated from Gol in 1897 to become a separate municipality. The municipality of Gol is bordered to the north by the municipality of Nord-Aurdal (inOppland county), to the east by Sør-Aurdal (in Oppland county), to the south by Nes, and to the west by Ål and Hemsedal.[4]
The Old Norse form of the name was Gǫrð. This is probably an old river name (for the lower part of Hemsil river). The name of the river maybe derived from the word garðr m 'fence; border' - and the meaning is then 'the border river'.
The coat-of-arms is from modern times. They were granted on 13 September 1985. The arms are gold with three black keys in the center. The keys are derived from the key for Gol stave church.[5][6]
The Bergen Line from Bergen to Oslo runs through Gol Station which opened in 1907. Gol is connected to Norwegian National Road 7, 50 and 52 as well as Norwegian county road 51. There are daily bus connections to Gjøvik and Lillehammer.[7]
| Ancestry | Number |
|---|---|
 Poland |
131 |
 Somalia |
77 |
 Lithuania |
56 |
 Syria |
46 |
 Iraq |
30 |
Gol Church (Gol kirke) was constructed during 1882 based upon a design by architect Henrik Nissen. The church is characterized by neo-Gothic style with gables and small towers with crosses. It was built of wood and has 500 seats.[9]
The mediaeval Gol stave church (built ca. 1216) was due for demolition after the construction of the larger and new church. Gol stave church was saved from destruction by the Society for the Preservation of Ancient Norwegian Monuments (Fortidsminneforeningen), which bought the materials with the intention of re-erecting the church elsewhere. Financial problems were solved when King Oscar II decided to pay for its relocation and restoration as the central building of his private open-air museum near Oslo.[10]
The restoration was overseen by architect Waldemar Hansteen. It was completed in 1885. In 1907, the royal museum was merged with the Norsk Folkemuseum, which now manages the stave church, still nominally belonging to the reigning monarch.[11]
The following cities are twinned with Gol:
- Årjäng, Värmland County, Sweden
- Fanø, Region Syddanmark, Denmark
- Virrat, Pirkanmaa, Finland
- Bracebridge, Ontario
Buskerud travel guide from Wikivoyage|
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