Stave Churches
The stave churches are Norway's foremost contribution to the world’s cultural heritage, a fact confirmed by the inclusion of Urnes Stave Church on UNESCO's World Heritage List. These churches take their names from the distinctive building technique using vertical staves.
There are only 28 stave churches left in all of Norway. Five of the oldest are in the Sognefjord region, and all of them date back to the 12th century. Read More »
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Urnes Stave Church , the oldest of Norway's stave churches, is included on UNESCO's World Heritage List. It was built around 1130 AD, but the distinctive carvings on the north portal are from an even older church.
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Borgund has become famous as the Norwegian stave church par excellence and for that reason has also been used to symbolise Norway in many contexts – from T-shirts and mugs to postage stamps and banknotes.
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The richly decorated Hopperstad stave church in Vik would have been lost but for the intervention of cultural conservationists, who managed to save it just in the nick of time.
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This stave church at Kaupanger in Sogndal is the largest of the stave churches, and is still in use as the local parish church. The Kaupanger Stave Church was built in the so-called Borgund style on the remnants of two earlier churches, and dates back to about 1190.
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Undredal stave church is the smallest church in Scandinavia still in use, with only 40 seats. The church was built in 1147 as a stave church and was then called St. Nicholas Chapel.
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To book a guided tour for groups, or to visit one of the stave churches outside normal opening hours, contact the Society for the Preservation of Norwegian Ancient Monuments on tel. (+47) 57 67 88 40. See also their web site on the stave churces The Sognefjord Stave Churches |
Norsk
