Urnes Stave Church is a 12th-century stave church at Ornes, along the Lustrafjorden in the municipality of Luster in Vestland county, Norway.
Urnes Stave Church
The view of the interior
Capital on post of entry
Carvings in north wall portal
A stave church is a medieval wooden Christian church building once common in north-western Europe. The name derives from the building's structure of post and lintel construction, a type of timber framing where the load-bearing ore-pine posts are called stafr in Old Norse. Two related church building types also named for their structural elements, the post church and palisade church, are often called 'stave churches'.
Borgund Stave Church in Borgund, Lærdal, is one of Norway's most visited stave churches.
Heddal Stave Church, Notodden, the largest stave church in Norway
Drawing during reconstruction of Gol stave church by T. Prytz, 1883
Holtålen Stave Church, drawing by Håkon Christie.