Larvik Laurvig(historic) | |
|---|---|
.jpg) View of the town harbour | |
| Nickname: Bakkebyen ("Town of Hills") | |
  Larvik Location of the town Show map of Vestfold Larvik Larvik (Norway) Show map of Norway | |
| Coordinates:59°03′12″N10°02′07″E / 59.05328°N 10.03518°E /59.05328; 10.03518 | |
| Country | Norway |
| Region | Eastern Norway |
| County | Vestfold |
| District | Vestfold |
| Municipality | Larvik Municipality |
| Established as | |
| Kjøpstad | 1671 |
| Area | |
• Total | 15 km2 (5.8 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 44 m (144 ft) |
| Population (2022)[2] | |
• Total | 26,821 |
| • Density | 1,791/km2 (4,640/sq mi) |
| Demonym(s) | Larvikar Larviker Larviking |
| Time zone | UTC+01:00 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+02:00 (CEST) |
| Post Code | 3256 Larvik |
Larvikⓘ is atown/city[1] inLarvik Municipality inVestfold county,Norway. The town is theadministrative centre of the large municipality which stretches inland for over 50 kilometres (31 mi) from the coast. The town is located near theSkaggerak coast, wedged between theLarviksfjorden to the south, the lakeFarris to the north, and the riverLågen along the east side of the town. The town was established in 1671. The town became a self-governing municipality on 1 January 1838 under theformannskapsdistrikt law. The town remained self-governing until 1 January 1988 when it was merged with the neighboring town ofStavern and three neighboring rural municipalities to form a much largerLarvik Municipality.[4]
The 15-square-kilometre (3,700-acre) town has a population (2022) of 26,821 and apopulation density of 1,791 inhabitants per square kilometre (4,640/sq mi).[2] This means over half of the population ofLarvik Municipality lives in the city, the rest live in the much more rural areas of the municipality.
The town originally was built in theTollerodden area where theLarvik Church is located.[4]
The town is one of the largest ports inVestfold. It hascar ferry connections across theSkaggerak toHirtshals inDenmark. TheVestfoldbanen railway line runs through the town, stopping atLarvik Station. TheEuropean route E18 highway passes through the north side of the town, connecting the capital ofOslo withSouthern Norway.[4]
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Various remains from theStone Age have been discovered in the Larvik area, for instance byTorpevannet byHelgeroa village.Raet goes through all of Vestfold County before peaking out of the ocean inMølen. Ancient peoples have carried rocks from Raet and constructed vast numbers of burial mounds at Mølen. During theRoman Iron Age, ancient peoples erected a stone monument resembling a ship atIstrehågan, one of Norway's greatest remains from prehistoric times.[5]: 8
About 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) southeast of the town isSkiringssal, an archaeological site where archaeologists first discovered burial mounds and an ancient Viking hall, and later uncovered the nearby remains of an ancient town,Kaupang. This is now known as the oldest known merchant town in Norway. There was international trade from this area, over 1,200 years ago.[5]: 12 Skiringssal has remains from the oldest town yet discovered in theNordic countries,[6] and it was one of Scandinavia's earliest urban sites.[7]
Larvik (which historically used theDanish spelling:Laurvig) was an old coastal village. In 1671, the village receivedkjøpstad (market town) status in 1671 whenUlrik Fredrik Gyldenløvebought the Fritsø estate. He later became the firstCount of Laurvig. The count built a new residence in 1674, "Herregården", which can still be visited today.[8][4]
The town survived from thetimber trade,boat building, and shipping. A major industry in the town was the Fritsø Ironworks, which was operated until 1868.[4]
The whole Larvik area was owned by aDanish Count (grevskap) until 1817. Since the rest of Norway had come under Swedish rule in 1814, the county was purchased by four local businessmen in 1817.[9] Then in 1821, it became part of the newly createdJarslberg og Laurvigs amt (county).
Larvik is also the site of theTreschow estate, "Fritzøehus", which is currently owned by the heirs ofMille-Marie Treschow, reportedly "Norway's richest woman". The Treschow estate was created in 1835 when Willum Frederik Treschow bought the county from the Danish crown, who in turn had bought the county from the local consortium "grevlingene", four local entrepreneurs who proved unable to manage the ownership financially (the consortium had bought the county from the Danish crown in 1817 originally, the crown taking over the county when the last of the counts had to sell it because of debt).
Larvik, along with neighbouring cities ofSandefjord andTønsberg, were the three dominantwhaling cities of Norway in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.[10]
The city of Larvik was a 19th-century spa community, home of Larvik Bath. The spa welcomed several members of government and also Russian oligarchs. The royal family,King Haakon VII andQueen Maud, vacationed at the bath in 1906. The spa also welcomedBjørnstjerne Bjørnson in 1909, who wrote some of his lasts poems in Larvik, andKnut Hamsun in 1917. Hamsun wrote his novelGrowth of the Soil in Larvik, which later earned him the 1920Nobel Prize for Literature.[5]: 60–63
As of 1 January 2024, according toStatistics Norway[1] | ||
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