Norwegian origins

Stave churches in Sogn

In Norway we have some unique pieces of medieval arcitecture, nameley the stave churches. These are wooden churches, mostly preserved by using tar, thus giving them the iconic dark brown/black colour. There are painted stave churches, but what I see in my minds eye when I think of stave churches, are the very dark mysterious looking churches. I want to introduce you to four churches in my “neighbourhood”. Three are famous, one is not. Lets start with the one that tourists normally pass by.

What is a stave church?

A stave church is a medieval wooden church built in a specific way. The loadbearing posts are called staver (form the Old Norse stafr ), hence the name stave church. The staves were made from ore-pine. Ore-pine is mountain pine prepared in a certain way before it’s harvested, as to be extra strong and durable. The stave churches is a development from the earlier palisade churches. Palisade consturction was common in the Viking Age, and the stave churches we have here in Norway are the decendents of such buildings. No wonder people get “Viking vibes” from our stave churches.

In the olden days you could find stave churches other places in Europe, but today they are all in Norway barring one in Sweden, and a Norwegian one that’s been moved to Poland. There used to be more than a thousand of these buildings, but now there are only 28 stave churches in Norway.

Kaupanger stave church

The church is situated in the village of Kaupanger, in the municipality of Sogndal. Estimated to be from 1140. It’s not as spectacular as some of the others, but still a really beautiful old church.

Kaupanger stave church. It's a wooden church, and its appearance is quite dark. The few windows are small. The rooe is also made of wood. It was built in the 1100s.
Kaupanger church in autumn

To get to it, you exit the riksveg 5 at the Kaupanger industrial area, and follow the signs to Kaupanger village, the road is called Kaupangsvegen.

A gloomy version of the Kaupanger stave church. You see the silhouette of the church agianst the cloudy gray sky. Kaupanger church is a medieval church.
A gloomy Kaupanger church

Hopperstad stave church

The Hopperstad stave church is situated in the village of Vik. It’s considered a tourist attraction, and if you visist in the summer, most likely there will be tourists who stopped in Vik specifically for the church. Hopperstad stave church is estimated to be from around 1130. You can take a look inside from the middle of May, to the middle of September. In my opinion though, it is just as nice to visit outsid of the season. It’s easy to find, and you can see it from the road if you travel in the northerly direction.

You see the silhouette of the medieval stave church against the gray sky. It's easy to see that the church is built shortly after the "Viking age". There's a big tree in the foreground of the church.
Hopperstad stave church in winter
Hopperstad stave church. On the end of the gables there are dragons to scare the evil away. The wooden church is dark from weatherproofing with tar.
Hopperstad stave church on a cold cloudy day

Urnes stave church

Urnes stave church in the sun. You can see that the roof is decorated with wood carved details. You can see several dragons guarding the holy building.
Urnes stave church bathed in sun
The famous northern portal of Urnes stave church. The intricate wood carving shows different animals. The style is anything but naturalistic.
The northern portal of Urnes stave church, famous for its wood carving

The church is beautifully situated on a hill with a view of the fjord. You can get there by ferry from the quaint village of Solvorn, or a beautiful drive along the fjord from Skjolden. This church is one of the oldest stave churches, and parts of it is from the latter 1100s. The wood carving on the north portal is iconic and a style of wood carving is named for it; Urnes style. The style is clearly a mix of pagan ideas and cristianity, lots of dragons. Urnes stave church is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, one of eight in Norway.

Borgund stave church

This is probably one of the most famous churches in Norway. It gets a lot of visitors, and has its own visitor’s center, where you can learn more, and buy suvenirs. I’ve been there IN season, and outside of season, both have its plus sides. Outside of season you can’t go inside, but it’s still worth a visit outside of season. You can easily find it if you’re driving east on the rv16, not too long after Lærdalsøyri. You will see signs along the road.

Borgund stave church is beautifully situated, and the church itself is almost "cozy looking". It has dark tarred walls, and the roofs make out a large part of the building. The roof is covered in wooden tiles.
The famous Borgund stave church in late summer
The alterpiece of Borgund stave church is painted in a very naïve style.
The altarpiece of Borgund stave church, as you can see the style is very naïve

For more on old historical buildings, take a look at my visit to Sunnfjord museum.