Munkholmen is an island in the Trondheim Harbour area, approximately 2 kilometres from the town centre. The island was originally named Nidarholm. During the Viking Age, this was a place where public executions were held. Munkholmen is also where the founder of Trondheim, Olav Tryggvason, put Kark's and Håkon Earl's heads on poles, after battling for kingdom and Christianity in the year of 995.

A few years later, a Benedictine monastery was build on Nidarholm. The presence of monks lasted until the Protestant Reformation (in 1537), and this is why the island over time got it's new name, Monk's Island (Munkholmen).