Borgund stave church
Type:
Churches
Date:
1180–1250
Location or Findspot (Modern-Day Country):
Norway
Description:
A stave church is a building type named after its wooden post-and-beam construction. The name comes from the vertical, load-bearing wooden posts ("stafr" in in Old Norse and "stav" in modern Norwegian). A stave church in the village of Borgund (Norway), formerly a parish church dedicated to St. Andrew, is known as an "aisled" type of stave church. It has freestanding posts supporting the central part of the nave. Reduced side aisles surround the nave, giving the interior an appearance similar to that of a basilica—although it was probably an independent architectural development that was not based on basilical models. One of the most distinctive features of this church is its steeply pitched roof, which originally had boards rather than shingles. Carved dragon heads on the gables of the roof are more recent (possibly eighteenth-century) additions, but they may nevertheless reflect the much older tradition of carved dragon heads on Norse ships.
Relevant Textbook Chapter(s):
7,
8
Repository and Online Resources:
• Borgund preserves the only surviving freestanding, stave-built bell tower from medieval Norway.
Image Credits:
Wikimedia Commons
