What is the oldest church in Norway?

What is the oldest church in Norway?

Old Moster Church
Old Moster Church, possibly the oldest in Norway, site of the Moster Thing where Christianity was made law of the land (around 1024).

Who built the stave churches?

The end of the Viking age with its pagan Norse gods is marked by the coming of Christianity to Norway in the 12th century. Those medieval Norwegians, now tamed, took their boat-building skills and rather than sleek ships to raid in, they built fine wooden churches to pray in.

How old are stave churches?

889c. 1132
Urnes Stave Church/Age

Where is the oldest extant stave church?

Borgund’s current dragon heads possibly date from the 18th century, however original dragon heads remaining on earlier structures, such as Lom Stave Church and nearby Urnes Stave Church, the oldest still extant stave church, also in the Sogn district, suggest that there probably would have been similar dragon heads …

What is Norway’s religion?

The Church of Norway is Lutheran, but Catholicism and other Christian denominations are also widespread. Islam is one of the largest religions in Norway. There are also well established Jewish and Buddhist communities.

Are stave churches Viking?

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). Originally much more widespread, most of the surviving stave churches are in Norway.

What religion are stave churches?

Christian church
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).

Do stave churches use nails?

Stave churches are characterized by the “staves,” or thick wooden posts, that hold them up. Using the same woodworking prowess that made the Vikings such adept shipbuilders, traditional stave churches were often built using nothing more that expertly crafted joints and joins, with no nails or glue.

Are there stave churches in Sweden?

Apart from a few replicas, the small Hedareds Stavkyrka in the village Hedared on the north-western edge of Borås Kommun is the only remaining original stave church in Sweden.

When was the Vang Stave Church in Norway built?

The church is a four-post single-nave stave church originally built around 1200 in the parish of Vang in the Valdres region of Norway.

Where are the stave churches in the world?

Originally much more widespread, most of the surviving stave churches are in Norway. The only remaining medieval stave churches outside Norway are those of circa 1500 at Hedared in Sweden and one Norwegian stave church relocated in 1842 to the outskirts of Krummhübel, Germany, now Karpacz in the Karkonosze mountains of Poland.

How did John Dahl buy Vang Stave Church?

Dahl saw no other way than to buy the church himself. He asked the vicar of Vang to bid on his behalf at the public auction held in January 1841. Dahl won the bid at 86 speciedaler, 1 ort and 7 skilling, on the condition that the site was cleared by the end of the year.

How did Herman Wedel Jarlsberg buy Vang Stave Church?

Count Herman Wedel Jarlsberg announced his willingness to place it in his park at Bogstad manor near Christiania, but he died before the plan could be carried out. Dahl saw no other way than to buy the church himself. He asked the vicar of Vang to bid on his behalf at the public auction held in January 1841.