What religion are stave churches?
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 (stav in modern Norwegian).
What was a Viking church called?
stave churches
Viking handcraft The work culminated in the stave churches. There are several types of stave churches, but what they all have in common are corner-posts (“staves”) and a framework of timber with wall planks standing on sills. These walls are known as stave walls, hence the name stave church.
What do you call a church roof?
In architecture, a steeple is a tall tower on a building, topped by a spire and often incorporating a belfry and other components. Steeples are very common on Christian churches and cathedrals and the use of the term generally connotes a religious structure.
Are stave churches Viking?
While you’re in the land of the midnight sun, be sure to check out one of the incredible stave churches. Dating back to the middle ages, these unique structures, made entirely from wood, were built by the Vikings to celebrate the birth of Christianity in Norway.
Why are stave churches black?
The tar was not made of crude oil, but coaxed out of charcoal after a lengthy process of burning wood in artificial mounds until a black molasses would ooze out. There may once have been more than a 1000 of these churches, dotted along the fjords and forests, little beacons of light during the long months of darkness.
Did stave churches use nails?
Stave churches are characterized by the “staves,” or thick wooden posts, that hold them up. Using the same woodworking prowess that made the Vikings such adept shipbuilders, traditional stave churches were often built using nothing more that expertly crafted joints and joins, with no nails or glue.
What is the top of a church spire called?
steeple
A steeple is a tall pointed structure on top of the tower of a church.
What is a church spire?
spire, in architecture, steeply pointed pyramidal or conical termination to a tower. In its mature Gothic development, the spire was an elongated, slender form that was a spectacular visual culmination of the building as well as a symbol of the heavenly aspirations of pious medieval men. spire.
Are stave churches Pagan?
This Fairy Tale Wooden Church in Norway Mixes Pagan and Christian Elements. Stave churches, or stavkyrkje, are a style of medieval timber frame church. The post-and-lintel architecture, which is unique to Scandinavia, developed from traditional Viking construction methods.
What’s the pointed structure on top of a church called?
What is a church facade?
Façade. The façade or “west front” is the most ornate part of the exterior with the processional doors, often three in number, and often richly decorated with sculpture, marble or stone tracery. The façade often has a large window, sometimes a rose window or an impressive sculptural group as its central feature.
What is the difference between a church spire and a church steeple?
Steeple, implies, the turret of a church; be it of what form soever. By spire, is understood, a steeple, rising taper to the top. By tower, is implied, a square steeple. Spire, and, tower, then, are certain kinds of steeples.
What are Gothic spires?
Gothic spires The Gothic church spire originated in the 12th century as a simple, four-sided pyramidal structure on top of a church tower. The spire could be constructed of masonry, as at Salisbury Cathedral, or of wood covered with lead, as at Notre-Dame de Paris.
What is the oldest wooden church in the world?
Hedared stave church, Sweden, c. 1500, built on the site of an earlier stave church. Greensted Church, England, 845 or 1053, the only one palisade church is known to survive, has been claimed to be the oldest wooden church in the world, and probably the oldest wooden building in Europe still standing.
Why was the wooden church of Barsana built?
The wooden church of Barsana was built as a monastery church in 1720 but was moved to a nearby hill, its current location, in the first years of the following century. The reason appears to be connected to the villagers’ religious beliefs.
What type of church is the Greensted Church?
This is the Greensted Church in Essex. General consensus categorizes it as Saxon Type A. Another church bears similarities to stave churches, the medieval stone church of St. Mary in Kilpeck in Herefordshire. It features a number of dragon heads.
What is Norway’s oldest church?
Built about 1130, Urnes is Norway’s oldest stave church and the only one on the Unesco Heritage list. The site, though, is much older, and was home to two earlier churches.