Undredal Stave Church

Historie

Undredal Stave Church is a stave church in Aurland Municipality in Sogn og Fjordane county, Norway. It is located in the village of Undredal, on the shore of the Aurlandsfjorden. The church is part of the Undredal parish in the Indre Sogn deanery in the Diocese of Bjørgvin.The church is only 12by and has only 40 seats, making it the smallest stave church still in use in all of Scandinavia. The parish only includes one small, rather isolated valley, with only 116 parishioners, making it the second smallest parish in the Diocese of Bjørgvin.HistoryUndredal Stave Church was built in the middle of the 12th century, probably the year 1147. The church has been moved from different locations and reconstructed a few times. Around 1850, the building was extended to the west with the addition of a clock tower and porch. In 1913, there were plans to dismantle the church and move it to a museum in the village of Kaupanger (in Sogndal), but this never happened. Instead it was reconstructed in 1984 and underwent extensive maintenance work. Inside the church, the ceiling is decorated with biblical figures and angels.Media gallery