Lysefjord or Lysefjorden is a fjord located in the Ryfylke area in Rogaland county in southwestern Norway. The long fjord lies in the municipalities of Strand and Sandnes, about east of the city of Stavanger.
The name means light fjord, and is said to be derived from the lightly coloured granite rocks along its sides. It is particularly well known for the huge Preikestolen cliff overlooking the fjord, which is a major tourist destination for the region. The fairly isolated village of Lysebotn lies at the eastern end of the fjord and the villages of Forsand and Oanes both lie at the western end of the fjord near the Lysefjord Bridge, the only crossing of the fjord.
The fjord was carved by the action of glaciers in the ice ages and was flooded by the sea when the later glaciers retreated. The geology of Lysefjorden was thoroughly investigated and described by Professor Bjørn G. Andersen in his Master's thesis (1954) "Om isens tilbaketrekking i området mellom Lysefjorden og Jøsenfjorden i Ryfylke" (On the glacial retreat in the area between the Lysefjord and the Jøsenfjord in Ryfylke).
End to end, it measures with rocky walls falling nearly vertically over into the water. Not only is the fjord long and narrow, it is in places as deep as the mountains are high. Starting at a depth of only deep where it meets the sea near Forsand village, the Lysefjord then heads inland and drops to a depth of over below the Preikestolen.
Because of the inhospitable, mountainous terrain, the fjord is only lightly populated and only has two villages on its length - Forsand and Lysebotn, located at opposite ends of the fjord. There is a small farming area on the north shore of the fjord, about halfway between the two ends. That farm area is accessible by road from the village of Årdal over the mountains to the north. There are a few other very small, scattered settlements along the fjord, but those are only accessible by boat along the fjord. There are no roads along the fjord since the sides of the fjord are too steep for roads.
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Forsand is a former municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1871 until 2020 when it was merged into Sandnes municipality. It was located in the traditional district of Ryfylke. The administrative centre of the municipality was the village of Forsand. Other villages in the municipality included Lysebotn, Øvre Espedal, Oanes, Kolabygda, and Fløyrli. Forsand municipality surrounded the famous Lysefjorden and it was located on the east side of the Høgsfjorden.
Preikestolen or Prekestolen ('The Pulpit Rock', 'Pulpit', or 'Preacher's Chair') is a tourist attraction in the municipality of Strand in Rogaland county, Norway. Preikestolen is a steep cliff which rises above Lysefjorden. Atop the cliff, there is an almost flat top of approximately . Preikestolen is located near the Western part of the fjord, and on its North side. Tourism at the site has been increasing in the early 21st century, with between 150,000 and 200,000 visitors in 2012, making it one of the most visited natural tourist attractions in Norway.
Sandnes (ˈsɑ̂nːeːs) is a city and municipality in Rogaland, Norway. It lies immediately south of Stavanger, the 4th largest city in Norway, and together the Stavanger/Sandnes area is the third-largest urban area in Norway. The urban city of Sandnes lies in the extreme western part of the vast municipality and it makes up about 5% of the total land area of the municipality. Sandnes is part of the traditional district of Jæren. The western part of the municipality is very urbanized while the eastern part of the municipality is very rural.