Fantoft stave church
Encyclopedia
Stave church
A stave church is a medieval wooden church with a post and beam construction related to timber framing. The wall frames are filled with vertical planks. The load-bearing posts have lent their name to the building technique...
in the Fana
Fana
Fana is a borough of the city of Bergen, Norway.-History:Prior to 1972, Fana was an independent municipality which territory also included today's boroughs of Ytrebygda, Fyllingsdalen, and the southernmost part of Årstad.-Geography:...
borough of the city of Bergen
Bergen
Bergen is the second largest city in Norway with a population of as of , . Bergen is the administrative centre of Hordaland county. Greater Bergen or Bergen Metropolitan Area as defined by Statistics Norway, has a population of as of , ....
, Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
.
The church was originally built in Fortun in Sogn
Sogn
Sogn is a traditional district in Western Norway . It is located in the county of Sogn og Fjordane, surrounding the Sognefjord. Sogn consists of the municipalities of Aurland, Balestrand, Hyllestad, Høyanger, Gulen, Leikanger, Luster, Lærdal, Sogndal, Solund, Vik, and Årdal. The district covers ...
, a village near inner or eastern end of Sognefjord
Sognefjord
The Sognefjord is the largest fjord in Norway, and the second longest in the world. Located in Sogn og Fjordane county, it stretches inland to the small village of Skjolden...
around the year 1150. In the 19th century the church was threatened by demolition, as were hundreds of other stave churches in Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
. The church was bought by consul Fredrik Georg Gade and saved by moving it in pieces to Fantoft near (now in) Bergen in 1883.
On 6 June 1992 the church was destroyed by arson
Arson
Arson is the crime of intentionally or maliciously setting fire to structures or wildland areas. It may be distinguished from other causes such as spontaneous combustion and natural wildfires...
, the first in a series of church burnings related to the early Norwegian black metal scene. The fire was initially thought to have been caused by lightning or an electrical failure. A short film clip of the church fire is shown in the 2009 documentary Until the Light Takes Us
Until The Light Takes Us
Until the Light Takes Us is a 2009 feature documentary about Norwegian black metal, from directors Aaron Aites and Audrey Ewell.-Featured interviewees:* Gylve "Fenriz" Nagell...
. The burnt remains of the church appear on the cover of the 1993 Burzum
Burzum
Burzum is a musical project by Varg Vikernes . It began during 1991 in Bergen, Norway and quickly became prominent within the early Norwegian black metal scene...
album Aske
Aske (album)
Aske is the second release by the Norwegian black metal artist Burzum. It was recorded in April and August 1992, and released in March 1993. Bass guitar on the EP is performed by Samoth of the band Emperor....
(Norwegian
Norwegian language
Norwegian is a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Norway, where it is the official language. Together with Swedish and Danish, Norwegian forms a continuum of more or less mutually intelligible local and regional variants .These Scandinavian languages together with the Faroese language...
for Ashes). According to Varg Vikernes
Varg Vikernes
Varg Vikernes is a Norwegian black metal musician, writer, philosopher, religious and political activist, arsonist and convicted murderer.Vikernes was born near Bergen, Norway. In 1991, he founded the one-man music project Burzum, which quickly became popular within the early Norwegian black metal...
, the sole member of Burzum, the church was burned as an act of retaliation against Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
for placing a church on sacred, pagan
Norse paganism
Norse paganism is the religious traditions of the Norsemen, a Germanic people living in the Nordic countries. Norse paganism is therefore a subset of Germanic paganism, which was practiced in the lands inhabited by the Germanic tribes across most of Northern and Central Europe in the Viking Age...
grounds.
Reconstruction of an exact copy of the church was promptly initiated, and completed in 1997. Outside the church stands a stone cross from Tjora in Sola
Sola
Sola is a municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. It is part of the region of Jæren. The old municipality of Håland was divided into Sola and Madla in 1930....
.