Stave churches
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Maihaugen - Lillehammer - Norway. Garmo Stave Church originally came from the village of Garmo in Lom in the former Oppland county. It was built around the year 1150 on the site of a previous church believed to have been built in 1021 by a Viking chieftain. In 1730, it was expanded into a cruciform church in the timber.
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Stave church in Borgund is one of the best preserved stave churches in Norway. It was built in 12 century and it's decorated with a dragons sculptures on the roof.
Now remain only 28 stave churches in Norway.
Built in 1192, the Torpo Stave Church is the oldest building within the valley and traditional district of Hallingdal. The church was dedicated to Saint Margareta. The stave church was purchased by the municipality in 1875. It was initially planned to expand it with an annex to the east, but in 1879 it was decided instead to modernize the interior with new ceiling and gallery. Following protest from the Ancient Monuments Society (Fortidsminneforeningen), the municipality decided to build a new church (Torpo Kyrkje) on the adjacent property. The new church was built north of the old one with the two churches standing side by side.
Røldal Stave Church (Norwegian: Røldal stavkyrkje) is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Ullensvang Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is located in the village of Røldal. It is the church for the Røldal parish which is part of the Hardanger og Voss prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Bjørgvin. The brown, wooden stave church was built in around the year 1250 using designs by an unknown architect. The church seats about 130 people and is built in a long church design.
The church is a preserved historic museum, but it is still a regularly-used parish church that holds regularly scheduled worship services twice a month.
From the outside, Heddal is a magnificent sight: Roof over roof, several spiers, tower caps with crosses, gable ends adorned with carved dragon heads, and the entire building is clad in shavings.
Heddal is today the largest of a total of 28 preserved stave churches in Norway. It is built in two heights, which means that it reaches a full 26 meters above the ground.
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Vang Stave Church
is a stave church located in Karpacz in the Karkonosze mountains in Poland.
It was transferred to its present location from Vang in the Valdres region of Norway and re-erected in 1842.
Wikipedia
Vang Stave Church
is a stave church which was bought by King Frederick William IV of Prussia and transferred from Vang in the Valdres region of Norway and re-erected in 1842 in Brückenberg near Krummhübel in Silesia, now Karpacz in the Karkonosze mountains of Poland.
It was originally used by a congregation belonging to the Church of Norway, then the Evangelical Church of Prussia, and now serves as the Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Poland.
@Wikipedia
© Sigmund Løland. All Rights Reserved.
The church was built in the middle of the 12th century, probably the year 1147 and is located in the village of Undredal, on the shore of the Aurlandsfjord.
The church is only 12 by 4 metres (39 by 13 ft) and has only 40 seats, making it the smallest stave church still in use in all of Scandinavia.
The special red color on the church is "original".
This beautiful modern church near Leknes has been inspired by the traditional Viking style stave kerkes honouring thus the heritage of these cultures.
There are many very impressive medieval wooden churches, called stave churches, in this wonderful country, Norway. We only saw two of them. This one impressed me very much by its size and setting. It dates back to 1158-59. It is still the main church in Lom.
Røldal Stave Church (Norwegian: Røldal stavkyrkje) is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Ullensvang Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is located in the village of Røldal. It is the church for the Røldal parish which is part of the Hardanger og Voss prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Bjørgvin. The brown, wooden stave church was built in around the year 1250 using designs by an unknown architect. The church seats about 130 people and is built in a long church design.
The church is a preserved historic museum, but it is still a regularly-used parish church that holds regularly scheduled worship services twice a month.
Fåvang Stave Church (Fåvang stavkyrkje) is a parish church located south of the village of Fåvang in Ringebu municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. The church is situated in the traditional region of Gudbrandsdal. Fåvang church is an active parish church in the Ringebu parish of the Sør-Gudbrandsdal prosti within the Diocese of Hamar.
Fåvang Stave Church is built of wood and was first constructed ca. 1300. During the period 1627–1630, Fåvang church was rebuilt and extended with parts of the material from an 11th-century stave church within the valley of Gudbrandsdal. Consequently, the oldest parts can date back to about 1150–1250. By tradition the reconstruction was supervised by master-builder Werner Olsen (ca. 1600–1682), who was also responsible for reconstruction of Ringebu Stave Church and Lom Stave Church.
The church has a number of historic furnishings. Among other things the church has votives from 1684–1694. The altar and pulpit are of Renaissance style, both dated to the 17th century. A painting of the Christ Child is from 1732.
The church has been through several reconstructions. It was restored during the period 1949 to 1951 under the direction of architect Jens Gram Dunker. The church was re-consecrated on 9 September 1951.
Because it has been so extensively modified, it is often not counted among Norwegian stave churches.
Built in 1192, the Torpo Stave Church is the oldest building within the valley and traditional district of Hallingdal. The church was dedicated to Saint Margareta. The stave church was purchased by the municipality in 1875. It was initially planned to expand it with an annex to the east, but in 1879 it was decided instead to modernize the interior with new ceiling and gallery. Following protest from the Ancient Monuments Society (Fortidsminneforeningen), the municipality decided to build a new church (Torpo Kyrkje) on the adjacent property. The new church was built north of the old one with the two churches standing side by side.
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The top of the Garmo stave church at Maihaugen in Lillehammer, Norway.
This stave church originally dates to the middle of the 12th century - later expanded in the 18th century. In the 19th century the church was replaced with a newly built on in Garmo and this one was dismantled and sold at auction(!) in 1880. It was bought by Trond Eklestuen, who spent much time buying traditional Norwegian objects (and buildings) and giving them away to museums for preservation. The church ended up at Maihaugen (the largest open-air museum in northern Europe, founded in 1904), a place dedicated to the preservation of Norwegian history and architecture. The church was rebuilt there in 1921.
Built in 1183 Borgund Stave Church is not the most ancient , but probably the Rolls Royce of stave churches. The pagoda topped exterior makes it the very archtype of Norwegian stave churches. For those who seek information about the South Dakota replica: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chapel_in_the_Hills
Built in 1192, the Torpo Stave Church is the oldest building within the valley and traditional district of Hallingdal. The church was dedicated to Saint Margareta. The stave church was purchased by the municipality in 1875. It was initially planned to expand it with an annex to the east, but in 1879 it was decided instead to modernize the interior with new ceiling and gallery. Following protest from the Ancient Monuments Society (Fortidsminneforeningen), the municipality decided to build a new church (Torpo Kyrkje) on the adjacent property. The new church was built north of the old one with the two churches standing side by side.
Gol Stave Church is a 12th century stave church originally from Gol in the region of Hallingdal.
Oslo, Norway
PB_M9532.2 - 24-70mm
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Urnes Stave Church (Norwegian: Urnes stavkirke) is a stave church at the Ornes farm, along the Lustrafjord in the municipality of Luster in Sogn og Fjordane county, Norway.
It has been owned by Fortidsminneforeningen (Society for the Preservation of Norwegian Ancient Monuments) since 1881. In 1979, the Urnes stave church was listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
The church was built around 1130 or shortly thereafter, and still stands in its original location; it is believed to be the oldest of its kind. It provides a link between Christian architecture and the architecture and artforms of the Viking Age with typical animal-ornamentation, the so called "Urnes style" of animal-art. (see picture below)
There have been numerous attempts to interpret the decoration (iconography) of the church's most remarkable part, the old portal in the northern wall. The images are generally considered to represent a snake curling upwards. At the lower end there is an animal with four feet biting the snake.
As I mentioned, we drove through Telemark to visit a friend of Mette on our way home from Sweeden. She lives not too far from Heddal, so we wanted to see the biggest stave church in Norway, Heddal stave church.
The church is a triple nave stave church.The exact year of building is a bit uncertain. One timber log is dated to have been cut down in 1196, and the church is believed to have been raised in early 1200. But another log that has been tested seems to be from around 900. This, however, is believed to be left over from a previous church that stood at the same place.
After the reformation, the church was in a very poor condition, and a restoration took place during 1849–1851.
We were lucky with the weather at our visit, as it had been a bit changing during the day. We even drow by it on our way home the next day, so there are photos from both days in the first comment.
The interior is to my opinion nicer and more authentic for its periode in the local stavechurches we have here in Western Norway, like the Urnes church or the Borgund church. And I also think the nature around them are wilder and more beautiful. But that is a matter of disquss I guess.
There are more photos in the first comment. I just post them without any text as I am afraid I know litttle more than this about the church.
An artificial hill made from waste when the docks here were redeveloped in the 1980's. The centrepiece is a relief of the original docks in the 19th century. There are views from Canary Wharf to The City and it is part of an ecological park.
Øye stave church (Øye stavkyrkje) is situated in Øye, a village in the municipality of Vang, Oppland county, Norway. It is a triple nave stave church and dates from the second half of the 12th century. The church was situated next to the lake Vangsmjøse in Øye. Here, however, the river Rødøla would flood almost every spring and, corpses would be flushed out of their graves...
As a result the church was moved, this time to a location further away from the river. In 1747 the church was torn down and hidden away, and a new church was built on the same location. The new church was renovated in 1935, and below the floor was found the material from the old church. 156 pieces of the church were used to rebuild the stave church. The construction was completed in 1965. Øye stave church is one of the smallest and oldest remaining stave churches in Norway.
Eidsborg Stave Church (Norwegian: Eidsborg stavkyrkje) is a stave church in Tokke, Vestfold og Telemark county, Norway.
Eidsborg Stave Church is one of the best preserved Norwegian stave churches. Church is located next to the Vest-Telemark Museum in Eidsborg.
The church is estimated to date to between 1250–1300. It was partly reconstructed in the 19th century. The chorus was demolished in 1826; the new choir dates to the period 1845–50. The reconstruction work did not affect the structure or the shape of the church. It was restored in 1927 when painted figures and ornaments dating from the Renaissance and old murals from the 17th century were revealed.
Detail of the portal of the Stave Church of Gol, Folkemuseum Oslo, Norway
Quoting Wikipedia:
"A stave church is a medieval wooden Christian church building once common in north-western Europe. The name derives from the building's structure of post and lintel construction, a type of timber framing where the load-bearing ore-pine posts are called stafr in Old Norse (stav in modern Norwegian). Two related church building types also named for their structural elements, the post church and palisade church, are often called 'stave churches'."
"The Gol church has been dendrochronologically dated to from 1157 to 1216. When the city built a new church around 1880, it was decided to demolish the old stave church. It was saved from destruction by the Society for the Preservation of Ancient Norwegian Monuments (Fortidsminneforeningen), which bought the materials in order to re-erect the church elsewhere. The remains of the original medieval construction were documented before transport. Original murals and medieval artifacts survived. Most of the main construction remained intact and in original form, although practically all of the exterior dates from the 1884–1885 restoration."
Lom Stave Church (Norwegian: Lom stavkyrkje) is a stave church situated in Lom municipality in the Gudbrandsdal district of Norway. The church is a triple nave stave church that uses free standing inner columns to support a raised section in the ceiling of the main nave. This type of church is amongst the oldest Stave Churches. The church was first situated in a sub valley to the valley Gudbrandsdal in Oppland County, some 60 kilometers (37 mi) west of Otta. The church dates to approximately second part of 12th century, but was rebuilt into a cruciform church during the 17th century. The chancel was decorated in 1608, and the nave was enlarged towards west in 1634. The cross section was added in 1663, but this was made in stave like frame work. A complete restoration also took place in 1933, and a smaller one in 1973. This stave church is actually one of just a very few stave churches of which the original medieval crest with a dragon head still survives.
On 6 June 1992, the church was destroyed by arson; the first in a string of church burnings by members of the early Norwegian black metal scene. At first, the fire was thought to have been caused by lightning or an electrical failure. In 1994, Varg Vikernes of the one-man band Burzum was found guilty of burning Ã…sane Church and Storetveit Church in Bergen, the burning of Skjold Church in Vindafjord, and the burning of Holmenkollen Chapel in Oslo. He was also charged with the burning of Fantoft stave church.
The famous Heddal Stave Church (stavkirke) in Telemark. Constructed near the beginning of the 1200s, it is the largest of its kind in Norway and is said (in legend) to have been built in 3 days.
more info: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heddal_Stave_Church