Vardøya

Vardøya is an island in Vardø Municipality in Finnmark county, Norway. The 3.7-square-kilometre island is the location of the town of Vardø. The island sits about 1.5 kilometres east of the mainland Varanger Peninsula. The island is connected to the mainland by the Vardø Tunnel, the first subsea tunnel that was built in Norway. The tunnel is part of the European route E75 highway, which has its terminus at the town of Vardø. The small island of Hornøya is located just 1.5 kilometres to the northeast of Vardøya.

The island was probably originally two separate islands with a small strait between them; sometime during the Middle Ages a man-made isthmus was built connecting the two islands. Today there is a 100-metre wide isthmus called Valen that connects both sides of Vardøya. Between the two parts of Vardøya is a long harbor. The town of Vardø was built up on this island primarily because it was the site of the Vardøhus Fortress . The fortress was originally built in 1306 and it is still in operation today.

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