![]() Upwards of 2,000 stave churches once existed in Norway, and similar churches were quite common hundreds of years ago elsewhere in northern Europe, especially in Sweden and Denmark (the Transylvanian wooden churches of Maramureş also share some design elements). Some further research was clearly called for.Ī stave church is a medieval wooden church, named after its load-bearing corner posts ( stafr in Old Norse, stav in Norwegian). I found the structures, their decorations, and their history to be quite fascinating. Also Fantoft Stave Church at Fantoft near Bergen burned down and was rebuilt as a copy, not on the official list.While watching a television documentary about Norway recently, I got my first glimpse of a stave church, having never seen one or even encountered the name before.(Now operated by the Fortidsminneforeningen) Vågå – Extensive reconstruction, reclassified.Vang – moved to the Giant Mountains in Poland in the 1800s.Fåvang – Extensive reconstruction, reclassified.Preserved Stave Churches Innlandet Church For example, the main church in Aurland ( Vangen church) is in stone, while there is a stave church in Undredal and there was probably a stave church in Flåm. Where the parish churches were in stone, the annex could be a stave church. There were mostly stave churches in the mountain valleys and forest villages, and in fishing villages on the islands and smaller fjord arms. A map of the 322 stave churches known in 1800 shows that there were the most stave churches in the least populated areas, while there are most stone churches in the cities, in the flat settlements ( Østlandet and Trøndelag), along the coast and in the largest church parish in the fjords in Vestlandet. Exceptions are in particular the two stave churches that have been moved to Bergen and Oslo, and Grip Stave Church which is located on a vacated island in the sea. ![]() The existing stave churches are concentrated on the upper valley regions of eastern Norway ( Østlandet) ( Gudbrandsdalen, Numedal, Hallingdal, Valdres and Telemark) and the inner fjord regions of western Norway. ![]() Vågå Church is sometimes referred to as a stave church, but is the result of extensive reconstruction with reuse of materials from the demolished stave church. Also Hol old church was originally a stave church, but was rebuilt or expanded until there was little trace of the demolished building. For example, Flesberg Stave Church was expanded to a cross church with the cross arms in timber logs, while the Rømskog Church that was built with stave construction was replaced by a church in timber logs. Īfter the Reformation, some stave churches were enlarged or rebuilt with log construction. From 1850 to 1885 32 stave churches were lost, but only Fantoft Stave Church has been lost since then. Around 1800 there were still 95 stave churches, while over 200 former stave churches were still known by name or written sources (according to Lorentz Dietrichson). In 1650, there were about 270 stave churches left in Norway, and in the next hundred years 136 of them disappeared. In the Middle Ages there were probably over 1000 stave churches in Norway, but most disappeared in the period 1350–1650, probably as a result of changing needs after the Black Death and the Reformation. Main article: List of archaeological sites and dismantled stave churches
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