Stave Church of Lom, Norway

A stave church (Norwegian Stavkirke) is a medieval wooden church, and can be found in 28 places in Norway. Originally there were approximately 1000 stave churches in Norway. Many churches were destroyed during the 19th century.

There is evidence suggesting that stave churches were built upon old Norse heathen holy places or temples, which were destroyed after Christianity was introduced in Norway around the year 1000.

Stave churches feature an intriguing combination of Christian designs intermixed with pre-Christian Viking motifs, such as the intergripping beast motifs commonly seen carved into the wooden columns and paneling of the buildings.

Urnes stave church is included on UNESCO’s World Heritage List of most valuable cultural memorials in the world, Urnes is the oldest stave church in Norway.

The biggest stave church in Norway is Heddal stave church. The best preserved is Borgund stave church in Lærdal.

History

Norwegian stave churches are some of the oldest wooden structures left on earth. The first stave churchs was built when Christianity came to Norway in the 10th and 11th century. Between 750 and 1 250 Stave churchs were built between the 10th century and the 15th century. Only 28 are left.

With the introduction of Christianity to Norway in the 10th and 11th centuries, churches of different sizes and forms were built. Some may have been made partly of stones and wood. Some wooden buildings had earth-bound posts, and some had their lower construction set on a frame.

Even though the wooden churches had structural differences, they give a recognizable general impression. Formal differences may hide common features of their planning; while apparently similar buildings may turn out to have their structural elements organized differently. Certain basic principles must have been common to all types of building.

Basic geometrical figures, numbers that were easy to work with, one or just a few length units and simple ratios, and perhaps proportions as well were among the theoretical aids all builders inherited. The specialist was the man who knew a particular type of building so well that he could systematize its elements in a slightly different way from what was the case in the buildings known hitherto, thus carrying developments a stage further.

Stave churches in Norway

• Borgund stave church
• Eidsborg stave church
• Fantoft stave church
• Fåvang stave church
• Flesberg stave church
• Garmo stave church
• Gol stave church
• Grip stave church
• Heddal stave church
• Hopperstad stave church
• Høre stave church
• Høyjord stave church
• Kaupanger stave church
• Kvernes stave church
• Lom stave church
• Lomen stave church
• Nore stave church
• Øye stave church
• Reinli stave church
• Ringebu stave church
• Rødven stave church
• Røldal stave church
• Rollag stave church
• Torpo stave church
• Undredal stave church
• Urnes stave church
• Uvdal stave church
• Vågå stave church

External links

• Stave Church - Medieval Wooden Churches in Norway