page_title: Sola
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Sola / History
caption_attribution_description: Sola ruin kirke
context_page_description: Sola is a municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Jæren. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Solakrossen. Other villages include Tananger, Hålandsmarka, Sørnes, and Stenebyen. Stavanger Airport is located in Sola, just a short distance from the large Stavanger/Sandnes metropolitan area.
  The 69-square-kilometre municipality is the 342nd largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Sola is the 41st most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 27,153. The municipality's population density is 394.5 inhabitants per square kilometre and its population has increased by 18.9% over the previous 10-year period.
  In the western part of Sola, there are 5 kilometres of long, sandy beaches facing the North Sea. With usually ample supplies of wind and waves, the sandy beaches are a popular place for windsurfing.
context_section_description: According to Snorre Sturlason the Battle of Hafrsfjord took place in the year AD 872, probably outside Ytraberget. Harald Fairhair, the first king of Norway, is celebrated for having united Norway at this notable battle.
  The stone crosses at Tjora date from about the year 1150. In early Christian times, these stone crosses were used as gathering points for religious ceremonies before churches were built. Sola Church Ruins (Sola ruinkirke) is the ruins of a Romanesque stone church dating from about the year 1120. The stone church probably replaced an older wooden church in the area. This wooden church was possibly the one that Erling Skjalgsson had built when he converted to Christianity at the end of the 10th century. Sola Church overlooked the Hafrsfjord and was in use until 1842.The artist Johan Bennetter (1822–1904) used the church as a studio and lived there with his family. During World War II, most of the church was demolished. It was later reconstructed, and the restoration was finished in 1995.
  Stavanger Airport, Sola was founded in 1937. At Sola airport, the first opposed landing by paratroopers took place as German Fallschirmjägers from 1st battalion of the 1st Regiment, 7th Flieger Division were dropped on the airfield. Sola Air Station became an important airfield for the Germans during World War II.
caption: Sola Church Ruins
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