 The original name for the municipality of Lillesand was Sanden. This comprised a very small area nearest the harbour. From a modest beginningin the seventeenth century with 30 inhabitants the community grew and had its heyday during the days of sail from the middle of the nineteenth century. At the most 78 ships were registered here, and there was great activity in the shipyards.
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The idyllic south coast scenery at Blindleia – a municipality of about 9,000 inhabitants. Summer tourists from far and near know Lillesand as an inviting, immaculate, whitewashed idyll of wooden houses, whose walls act as sun traps. 
