Kungahälla — or Konghelle in Old Norse — was the medieval predecessor to Kungälv and one of the most important settlements in Scandinavia before its destruction. It sat at the confluence of rivers about four kilometres south of the modern town centre and functioned as a royal residence and trading post from the Viking Age through the early medieval period. The 1101 meeting of the three Scandinavian kings — which Nytorget in Kungälv commemorates with its sculpture — took place here.
The settlement was sacked and burned by a Pomeranian raiding force in 1135 in one of the most dramatic Viking-era attacks on record. The site was never fully rebuilt, and after Bohus Fortress was built in 1308 the remaining population gradually shifted northward. Archaeological excavations have found traces of the Norse town, including a large hall building and early Christian churches. The site today is farmland with some earthwork traces; information boards in the area explain the history.