Norway (604 m) – Most Iconic Mountain in Scandinavia
The Preikestolen is an immense outcropping of exposed granite known for the famous cliff at its peak which juts out over the Lysefjorden in southern Norway. The view from this peak, overlooking the specatular blue waters of the coastal fjords, is considered to be one of the most beautiful on Earth. Not surprisingly, it is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Scandinavia. Its name means “preacher’s pulpit”.
The mountains which overlook the fjords of southern Norway have been inhabited since early times by the ancestors of the Vikings. The Preikestolen was certainly known in the Middle Ages and probably used as a lookout. It almost certainly witnessed the departure and return of massive Viking flotillas as they ravaged the northern coasts of Europe.
The Preikestolen dominates the Lysefjorden, the southernmost of Norway’s major fjords. Located just twenty miles outside of Stavanger, the mountain is easily accessible by road, and in the summer by ferry as well. Most of Preikestolen’s thousands of annual visitors come in the summer, as hiking in the winter and spring is more dangerous. The cliff at the peak, which towers more than six hundred meters over the fjord, does not have safety fencing.
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