Nepedia
Back to Discover
Fluent Reader
🗺️

Vøringsfossen

geography Maturity 11-13 Next article →

Vøringsfossen is a very famous waterfall in Norway.

It sits in the Måbødalen valley. This place is in Vestland county. The falls are near a road that connects Oslo and Bergen. The name comes from an old word that means to revere or esteem. It is the 83rd highest waterfall in Norway by total fall.

A small river called Bjoreio flows into the falls. This river has a dam in the Sysendalen valley above. The dam is used for hydroelectric power. This means the water is used to make energy. There are rules to keep the water flowing. In the summer, the flow must stay above its natural rate.

Not long ago, only locals knew about this place. In 1821, a professor named Christopher Hansteen visited. He wanted to study the stars on the Hardangervidda plateau. He used a pocket watch to guess the height. He threw stones down the edge and timed the fall. In 1893, someone used a string to find the real height. It was 182 meters total.

Many people have worked to make the falls easy to visit. Ola Garen wanted to build a hotel there in 1880. In 1891, a new road and tunnels were built. The Fossli Hotel was finished that same year. It was built in the Art Nouveau style. Workers had to carry all the materials on horses. Large cruise ships began to visit the area around 1900.

Today, many tourists visit the falls. A long bridge now goes across the deep ravine. It is 140 meters long. A helicopter carried the sections to put it in place. The bridge was designed by Carl-Viggo Holmebakk. There are also warning signs to keep people safe. The video shows how much water flows during the summer.

293 words

Where will your curiosity go next?

Keep exploring at your chosen reading level.

🖼️ Images & Media (1)
Eidfjord waterfall.webm
More to explore

🔬 Go deeper

More advanced topics to explore

🪜 Step back

Simpler topics to build understanding

What is Nepedia?

A free, ad-free encyclopedia for children. Every article is written at five reading levels, so the same page works for a five-year-old and a fifteen-year-old — use the level switcher above to see this one change. No account needed to read.