Photo by Trygve M. Davidsen

«If a man builds a church, whether he is a landlord or a farmer or somebody else, he must always keep it in good shape and never abandon the site. But if the church decays and the columns starts to fall, he must bring new within twelve months; and if he fails in doing so, he will be fined three Mark for his failure to the Bishop and still have to bring the timber and do the repair anyway».

The text above was copied from the Gulating Law, chapter 12, and translated into English. The Gulating was the main Court of Law in Southern and Western Norway once, and it was first written down during the 11th century. The value of one Mark was equal to approximately 0.44 lb of silver at the time this law was written down.
A nearly 900 year old wooden temple
The Stave Church is a nearly 900-year-old wooden temple, which is truly unique to Norway. Even though they were constructed of wood, a very few is still surviving in our country today. That a building constructed from stones would last a long time, is commonly understood, but that a structure of wood could last this long, is nothing but astounding.
The churches were erected using a technology called stave technique, a construction method used all over northern Europe in that age. These wood churches have survived as an immense tourist attraction today. Indeed, each year thousands of people travel to Norway to see these magnificent wood structures.
By placing the entire wooden structure on sills, placed on flat rocks as a foundation, they eliminated the decomposition, which plagued them to this date.  This technique was perfected by the Norwegian artisans in the early 1100's and was crucial for their longevity. These churches remain the oldest wooden structures in the world that survived into our time.
It is believed that Norway had between 800 and 1200 of these churches, however, as the population grew, so did the need for larger churches. In the 18th century a new law added to their demise. It required that seating should be installed. Some 270 churches had made it thus far, but this number was reduced to approximately 60-65 by the early 19th century. Since some were too small and some were in such poor condition it was impractical to salvage them, they tore them down and replaced them by new and larger churches.
Fortunately, a handful of people realized the great historic importance of these old relics and started a long and very difficult struggle to rescue some of them. Some 30 churches actually made it into the 20th century, except for a couple which were lost for other reasons. Unfortunately, some of the remaining churches are in such a poor condition today that even more may be lost. Currently they are not properly maintained. Some have begun to decompose. The government is at fault since they do not provide sufficient funding for their maintenance and repair.
«The Poor-Man's Cathedral» is what we like to call them, because the Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim acted as a model for the exterior design. The Nidaros Cathedral is indeed the most remarkable and biggest medieval building in all of Scandinavia. Pictures of all these churches are attached together with a little description about their differences and history where ever that information is available.
No, you can't experience a Stave Church by looking at a picture or a movie! You will need to sense it by its spirit and smell the 800-900 years of treatment by tar, turpentine and linseed oil to fully discover the importance of these rare relics of a past time in the history of Europe.
The Lutheran Reformation in 1537
Although we like to date the Lutheran Reformation in Norway to have happened in approximately 1537, this is only partly true of course. The reformation, which in Norway was far less violent than in the other North European countries, took actually several decades to complete. It stripped the Catholic clergy from its power and left the king with all its estate.
Attention please!
We will try to keep you updated about any Stave Church Replica built in the entire world, but we need your help to do it. Please contact us if you have any additional information or good pictures concerning a Stave Church or a project to make one.