Selja Monastery

The legend attached to Selja tells of Sunniva, an Irish king's daughter who fled with her followers by sea and landed on this island, hiding in a cave when threatened and being buried when the rock fell; when the cave was opened in 996 the bodies were found undecayed, and she became Norway's first saint. A Benedictine monastery was built around the site in the twelfth century, and Selja was a bishop's seat before the see moved to Bergen in 1170. What survives is a substantial ruin: church walls, a stone tower, monastic buildings and the cave itself with a chapel inside, on a hillside above the shore. Boats run from Selje in summer with a guided walk up.

What you actually see

• The monastery ruins - church walls, a tower and monastic buildings.
• The Sunniva cave - the rock shelter at the centre of the legend, with a chapel.
• The island setting - a green hillside above the sea off the Stad coast.
• The guided boat trip - the summer crossing and walk from Selje.

When to go

June to August, when the boat and guided tours run; the crossing depends on weather and this coast is exposed. Outside the season the island is difficult to reach and the site unstaffed.

Honest expectations

Access is by seasonal boat only, and sailings are cancelled in swell. The walk up from the landing is steep and rough. The ruins are substantial but unroofed and weathered, with the interpretation coming from the guide rather than signage.

Nearby

Selje village is across the water; Vestkapp, Hoddevik and the Stad peninsula lie south.