Mølen

Mølen is a coastal geopark in the Brunlanes area of Larvik Municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. The park is Norway's largest beach made up of rolling stones. It is a part of Vestfoldraet, the terrain left behind after the end of the most recent ice age around 10,000 years ago. Mølen is one of Larvik's most popular tourist attractions. It is home to over a hundred types of rock, including Norway's national stone, Larvikite, which is named from the area. The wind and sea have lashed the landscape of Mølen for thousands of years, and the place takes its name from the Old Norse word "mol", meaning a stone mound or bank of stones. Mølen first received protected status in 1939 due to its ancient burial mounds. Mølen is home to over 230 cairns, some exceeding 35 metres (115 ft) in diameter. Excavations have dated the cairns to the Bronze Age 900-600 BCE. The cairns have been purchased and acquired by the University Museum of National Antiquities. Mølen received a new protection status in 1970 due its rich and unusual avifauna. Mølen is a habitat for a variety of rare bird species. Between 316 and 320 species of birds have been recorded at Mølen, more species than at any other site in Norway. It became the first UNESCO Global Geopark in the Nordics in 2008.