Moss

Moss lies on the east side of the Oslofjord, where the river Mosseelva runs its last short stretch from the lake Vansjø into the sea, over the falls Mossefossen. The centre is down by Kanalen, a canal dug through the narrow neck of sand and gravel that ties Jeløya to the mainland, so the green island to the west is really a peninsula. The ferries to Horten leave from the harbour here, on the busiest car ferry route in Norway.

About 51.000 people live in the town. It was an industrial town for a long time, with mills by the falls, Helly Hansen rain gear from the 1870s and the Peterson cellulose works right in the centre until 2012. The name Moss comes from Mors, the old name of the river, probably after its stony, dangerous run down to the falls.

Local knowledge: Moss became a kjøpstad in 1720, after Moss Jernverk, the ironworks by the falls, had started up. Its main building from 1778, Konventionsgården, is where Norway's short summer as a fully independent kingdom ended. In 1814 Norway had refused to be handed over to Sweden, written its own constitution and made the Danish prince Christian Frederik king. Sweden attacked on 26 July. After about two weeks of war he took the offer of a ceasefire, and on 14 August the talks in Moss ended with the Convention of Moss: he would give up the throne and leave, and Norway would go into a union with Sweden but keep its constitution. When it was over, the king had a nervous breakdown. History has been kinder to him, because the constitution of 17 May was saved. 14 August is still the town's flag day.

Born here: painter Jonas Lie (1880–1940) moved to America at 13, painted the building of the Panama Canal and became president of the National Academy of Design in New York. Writer Jon Michelet (1944–2018) went to sea as a deck boy and later wrote the Thygesen crime novels and the six-book seamen's saga En sjøens helt.

Visiting: the pin is on Kirketorget by Moss church. From there it's a short walk to Mossefossen, with Konventionsgården on the north side and Møllebyen, the old brick mill quarter, on the south side, where Moss by- og industrimuseum sits next to the library. For a rainy day, cross the canal to Alby gård on southern Jeløya. Galleri F 15 shows contemporary art there from Tuesday to Sunday, 11–17, and every other year it hosts the Momentum biennial. The old manor landscape and broadleaf woods around Alby are protected, good for a walk when the rain stops.

Fact sheet

• People: 51.004 in Moss, 53.207 in Moss municipality
• County: Østfold
• Town since: 1720 (as a trading town)
• Typical industries: nursing and care homes, wholesale trade, car sales and repair

Population on 1 January 2026, from Statistics Norway. Typical industries are the ones with a much bigger share of the jobs here than in Norway as a whole (Statistics Norway, 2025).