Sømna Bygdetun – an open-air museum

At Sømna Bygdetun, a historic farmstead and local heritage museum, visitors can explore the story of grain farming in northern Norway and step back into the 19th century. It offers a lively glimpse of how the fisher‑farmer and their family lived, worked, and built their lives along the coast. The site includes twelve historic buildings with a small‑village feel, and the kitchen garden—grown with old grain varieties, traditional crops, herbs, and vegetables—is well worth a visit.

Grain has always been essential to everyday survival, but farming in Northern Norway was never easy. For a long time, people relied on grain shipped north by merchants in Bergen in exchange for stockfish, as well as grain that came through the Pomor trade with Russia. That is exactly what makes Sømna stand out. Here, farmers managed to grow larger quantities of grain than in most other parts of Nordland, and the area earned the nickname the granary of Nordland.

At the museum, visitors can follow the journey of grain from field to finished flour. You can see the museum’s own grain field, threshing machines, and hand mills, and learn how grain was a vital part of everyday life—often alongside fishing.
Explore the historic buildings, step inside the homes people once lived in, and see the rorbu used during seasonal fishing. In Signe’s old shop, original goods are on display, offering a lively glimpse of everyday trade in earlier times. Visitors can also view the exhibitions, or take a break with a cup of coffee and something to eat in Signe’s beautiful ornamental garden.