Some Really Old Churches
We were in no hurry to get to Beitostolen, so we decided to take any interesting detours we came across en route. We saw a sign labeled "Kirkeruin", or church ruins, so we drove down to see the ruins at Mo. The church is from the 1200's and is the smallest medieval stone church in Norway. We were unable to drive to the church, as it is in a farmer's pasture, so we left the car at the road and walked in the rain down to see the ruins. Some trees have been planted around the church, and there is a small sign giving a bit of information, but it would be very easy to miss this tiny piece of Norwegian history--I'm really glad we didn't!
Photos 3-5 are of stave churches in the Beitostolen area. The first is in Lomen, the second is in Høre, and the third is in Hegge. All of these stave churches have free standing bell towers which can be seen in the pictures. We got to tour the last church in Hegge, but unfortunately were not allowed to take interior photos. At least I did get a picture of the ornately carved doorway.
All of these churches were in a very small area, less than an hour's drive apart from each other. Norway is just full of little treasures everywhere you look--road trips in this country are fascinating. (Although very time consuming, at least if you're driving with me! I want to stop at every waterfall, every stave church, every random goat by the side of the road!)
posted by Emily @ 5:21 PM
2 Comments:
At Tue Jun 26, 02:15:00 AM,
Kehla said…
Hello Emily!
This may seem to be a silly question, but are the stave churches still in use? Or are they more like historic landmarks?
At Tue Jun 26, 11:58:00 AM,
Emily said…
Hi K, some of the stave churches (like the one in Borgund) are perfectly preserved just as they were when they were first built in the 1100's. They are open for tours but not for services. Other churches, like the Hegge church, have been renovated several times throughout the years, expanded, given a more elaborate interior, painted on the outside...you can still see the original stave posts, but they no longer look like a typical stave church. A lot of these churches still have Sunday services and weddings, in addition to being open for public tours. I did notice fresh graves at all the stave churches I have visited, so I guess the churchyards are very much still in use! Emily
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