The village is located on the northeastern part of the island of Karmøy, along the Karmsundet strait, just south of the town of Haugesund.

[3] Avaldsnes is believed to have been named after the legendary King Augvald, who allegedly had his seat in the area surrounding the Karmsundet strait.

[4] According to legend, Olav Trygvason built Avaldsnes Church, apparently as a manor chapel for the king's residence.

[5] "Written sources indicate that Avaldsnes was the predecessor of the later established Hansa kontor in Bergen", according to the website of the University of Vienna.

Stone walls of approximately 1 metre (3.3 ft) in height and width were built around the great ship.

It was examined by Haakon Shetelig in 1902, and contained an approximately 15-metre (49 ft) long boat with remains of a man's grave from the 10th century.

The Avaldsnes find (Norwegian: Avaldsnesfunnet) contained a neck ring of 600 grams (19 ozt) of pure gold, weapons, bandolier mountings and various Roman tubs of silver and bronze.

A popular story tells us about a minister in ages past who climbed the monument and cutting off a piece from the stone when it came dangerously near the church wall.

To best preserve the integrity of the church stemming from the Middle Ages as well as the historical landscape, most of the centre is located underground.

[13] There is a replica of a farm from the Viking Age with several buildings, including reproductions of a longhouse and boathouses on the island of Bukkøy.