Vågå stave church
Encyclopedia
Vågå Church
Vågå Church ( is a historic stave church
located in Vågå
in Oppland
county, Norway
.
times, the location had been in use for worship.
The church was converted to a cruciform church in 1626–28. Only the carved portals and decorative wall planks survived from the original stave church. It was a half-timbered building, where the church materials are reused. The basic architectural plan is a Latin cross. Above the crossing is a turret with a high tower helmet and four small side towers, a legacy from the Gothic tower architecture.
The conversion was under the direction of Werner Olsen (1600–1682), who was also known as Werner Olsen Skurdal after the last of his residence. He was noted as a church and tower builder. He later worked on remodels to Lom Stave Church
and Ringebu Stave Church
.
The crucifix at Vågå church is early Gothic work, dating from the mid 13th century. The pulpit dates from the completion of the church in the 1630s. The sacristy
, constructed of shaped logs, was built later on in the 1660s. The altar piece is from 1674 and the altar rail dates from 1758.
Jo Gjende
, was born in Vågå, was buried in Vågå churchyard. On his grave is a small soapstone monument, which shows a wild reindeer herd in flight, after a painting by Gerhard Munthe
.
Vågå Church ( is a historic stave church
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...
located in Vågå
Vågå
Vågå is a municipality in Oppland county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Vågåmo....
in Oppland
Oppland
is a county in Norway, bordering Sør-Trøndelag, Møre og Romsdal, Sogn og Fjordane, Buskerud, Akershus, Oslo and Hedmark. The county administration is in Lillehammer. Oppland is, together with Hedmark, one of the only two landlocked counties of Norway....
county, 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...
.
History
Vågå Stave Church, which was constructed around 1150, is one of the older stave churches in Norway. It was originally dedicated to St. Peter. The prior rectory was formerly called Ullinsyn. The older name of the site may show that even in paganNorse 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...
times, the location had been in use for worship.
The church was converted to a cruciform church in 1626–28. Only the carved portals and decorative wall planks survived from the original stave church. It was a half-timbered building, where the church materials are reused. The basic architectural plan is a Latin cross. Above the crossing is a turret with a high tower helmet and four small side towers, a legacy from the Gothic tower architecture.
The conversion was under the direction of Werner Olsen (1600–1682), who was also known as Werner Olsen Skurdal after the last of his residence. He was noted as a church and tower builder. He later worked on remodels to Lom Stave Church
Lom stave church
Lom Stave Church is a stave church situated in Lom municipality in the Gudbrandsdal district of Norway. The church is a triple nave stave church that uses free standing inner columns to support a raised section in the ceiling of the main nave. This type of church is amongst the oldest Stave Churches...
and Ringebu Stave Church
Ringebu stave church
Ringebu Stave Church is a stave church located in Ringebu in Ringebu municipality, Gudbrandsdal, Norway. Built in the first quarter of the 13th century, and dated according to coins found during archeologic surveys.-History:...
.
The crucifix at Vågå church is early Gothic work, dating from the mid 13th century. The pulpit dates from the completion of the church in the 1630s. The sacristy
Sacristy
A sacristy is a room for keeping vestments and other church furnishings, sacred vessels, and parish records.The sacristy is usually located inside the church, but in some cases it is an annex or separate building...
, constructed of shaped logs, was built later on in the 1660s. The altar piece is from 1674 and the altar rail dates from 1758.
Jo Gjende
Jo Gjende
Jo Gjende , was a Norwegian outdoorsman and freethinker. He is believed to have been the model for Henrik Ibsen’s Peer Gynt....
, was born in Vågå, was buried in Vågå churchyard. On his grave is a small soapstone monument, which shows a wild reindeer herd in flight, after a painting by Gerhard Munthe
Gerhard Munthe (painter)
Gerhard Peter Frantz Munthe was a Norwegian painter and illustrator.-Background:Munthe was born in Elverum to physician Christopher Pavels Munthe and his wife Christine Margrethe Pavels Aabel . He was a brother of historian Hartvig Andreas Munthe, writer Margrethe Munthe and military officer...
.
Other sources
- Bugge Gunnar. Stavkirker, Stave Churches in Norway (Dreyers Forlag. Oslo: 1983) ISBN 82-504-2072-1
- Dietrichson, LorentzLorentz DietrichsonLorentz Henrik Segelcke Dietrichson was a Norwegian poet and historian of art and literature.-Biography:Lorentz Henrik Segelcke Dietrichson was the son of Fredrik Dietrichson and Marie Heiberg Dahl . Dietrichson grew up in Bergen as an only child in a home of cultural officials interested in...
. De Norske Stavkirker: Studier Over Deres System, Oprindelse Og Historiske Udvikling (Kristiania: 1892) New edition: (Gregg Publishing; September 1971) ISBN 0576191000 - Rønningen, G. Kirketårn og takryttere fra 1621 til 1802 i Hamar (University of Oslo, 1990)
External links
- Vågå stave church in Stavkirke.org Norwegian