Building a Stave Church for the first time in a thousand years

For the first time in over 1000 years – a new stave church is getting built – the medieval way!

The church will be a reconstruction one of Norway’s best preserved stave churches – Borgund from 1181.

The chosen location for the church – Rysstad in Setesdal is no coincidence, as this is the area where Hylestad Stave church once stood.

Other stave churches, like Fantoft, have been built in modern times, but what is special about this one is that it will be built, as it would have been built 1000 years ago – with locally sourced timber, dragged by horses on frozen ground to recreate the drag marks on the logs.

Construction is scheduled to start in 2024 and about 1000 craftsmen will participate in building the stave church, which is estimated to cost USD 11 000 000.