Heddal stave church in Telemark, Norway (built in the early 13th century)

What is a stave church

A stave church is a medieval wooden church with a post and beam frame construction. Huge corner posts (staves) are placed on sills, with overlying beams. The walls are usually covered with vertical planks. Stave churches descend from palisade churches and post churches. Palisade churches had walls of earth-bound posts, while post churches only had the corner posts planted in the ground. The problem with palisade and post churches was that the humidity in the ground caused the timber to rot. Stave churches on the other hand, were built with their posts, or staves, placed on sills on stone foundations, thus preventing them from direct contact with the ground and thereby expanding their lifespan.

Stave churches were once common in Northern Europe. In Norway alone, a total of about 2000 churches are believed to have been built during the 12th, 13th and 14th centuries. However, as the population grew the requirements also changed. During the following centuries many of the stave churches were destroyed and the material was re-used to build new and bigger churches, using new building techniques. Many of the stave churches were also subject to rework and recontruction.

In 1650 an estimated 270 stave churches remained in Norway. Over the next century 136 of these vanished. In 1851 a law was passed in Norway that churches had to house at least three tenths of the parish. Many of the remaining stave churches were destroyed to give way for bigger chuches, before it was finally decided to preserve the remaining ones.

A total of 28 historical stave churches remain standing in Norway today. There are only two stave churches outside of Norway, one in Hedared in Sweden and one in Karpacz in Poland. The stave chuch in Karpacz however, is originally from Vang in Norway, but was sold and relocated in 1842. In addition, some replicas have been erected at various locations over the last few years.

The dating of stave churches is done through dendrochronology (tree-ring dating) and radiocarbon dating. These methods however, overlook the possibility that the timber may have been reused from older buildings. In some cases historical records can point to the exact year of construction.

List of stave churches in Norway

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• Borgund stave church, Borgund - Sogn & Fjordane, built in the end of the 12th century. This is perhaps the most "classic" stave church and has been used as a model when restoring other stave churches.


• Eidsborg stave church, Tokke - Telemark, built in the middle of the 13th century


• Flesberg stave church, Flesberg - Buskerud, built at around 1200


• Garmo stave church from Lom in Oppland, now at Maihaugen Museum in Lillehammer - built at around 1150


• Gol stave church from Gol in Buskerud, now at Norsk Folkemuseum in Oslo - built in 1212


• Grip stave church, Grip - Møre & Romsdal, built in the second half of the 15th century


• Haltdalen stave church from Haltdalen in Sør-Trøndelag, now at Sverresborg Trøndelag Folkemuseum in Trondheim - built in the 1170's


• Hedal stave church, Hedal - Oppland, built in the second half of the 12th century


• Heddal stave church, Notodden - Telemark, built in the beginning of the 13th century


• Hegge stave church, Hegge - Oppland, built in 1216


• Hopperstad stave church, Vikøyri - Sogn & Fjordane, built in 1140


• Høre stave church, Ryfoss - Oppland, built in 1180


• Høyjord stave church, Andebu - Vestfold, built in the second half of the 12th century


• Kaupanger stave church, Kaupanger - Sogn & Fjordane, built in 1190


• Kvernes stave church, Kvernes - Møre & Romsdal, built in the second half of the 14th century


• Lomen stave church, Lomen - Oppland, built in 1179


• Lom stave church, Lom - Oppland, built in the second half of the 12th century


• Nore stave church, Nore - Buskerud - built in 1167


• Øye stave church, Oppland - built in the second half of the 12th century


• Reinli stave church, Reinli - Oppland, built in 1190


• Ringebu stave church, Ringebu - Oppland, built in the first quarter of the 13th century


• Rollag stave church, Rollag - Buskerud, built in the second half of the 12th century


• Rødven stave church, Rødven - Møre & Romsdal, built at around 1200


• Røldal stave church, Rødal - Hordaland — built in the first half of the 13th century


• Torpo stave church, Ål - Buskerud, built in 1192


• Undredal stave church, Undredal - Sogn & Fjordane, built in the middle of the 12th century


• Urnes stave church, Urnes - Sogn & Fjordane, built in the first half of the 12th century. Urnes stave church is listed as an UNESCO world heritage site


• Uvdal stave church, Uvdal - Buskerud, built in 1168

Map of stave churches in Norway

Photo tip

Visitors are prohibited from making photographs inside of stave churches, even without the use of flash. If you want to make photographs inside a stave church you will need a special permit from whoever owns the stave church, usually Fortidsminneforeningen (The Society for the Preservation of Norwegian Ancient Monuments) or the local parish.