Template:Wp-Dovre-History

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People have lived at Dovre for about 6,000 years. In the Stone Age, they were primarily hunters and fishermen. Approximately 2,000 years ago, the first farms were developed at this location.

Dovre is mentioned in Heimskringla (The Chronicle of the Kings of Norway) by Snorri Sturluson. In 1021, King Olaf laid hold of all the best men, both at Lesja and Dovre, and forced them either to receive Christianity or suffer death, if they were not so lucky as to escape.

The Pilgrim's Route (Old King's Road) between Oslo and Trondheim in the 16th century passed through the Gudbrandsdal valley. After leaving the Lågen river valley (downriver from present day Dombås) the road passed over the Dovrefjell mountains into the present-day municipality of Dovre. The heavy stream of annual pilgrims who visited the shrine of St. Olaf in Trondheim prior to the Protestant Reformation resulted in the construction of mountain stations along the route where the pilgrims could find food and shelter. In speaking of this route, Gjerset quotes Peder Claussøn Friis as writing:

The Battle of Kringen (Slaget ved Kringen) took place in August 1612, just downstream of Dovre, where the Scottish force stayed on 24 August 1612.