Church of Borgund


Among the many religions, we always recognize the golden domes of Orthodoxy, we will admire the Buddhist stupas and even in remote auls hear a long call from the minaret. But in Scandinavia it is customary to build mast wooden churches - the straddle - a unique version of the Christian church. This is a kind of special and ancient art. One of the oldest skeleton churches is in Norway .

Introduction to the Church of Borgund

The church of Borgund is in Norway in the province of Sogn og Fjordane north of the capital, Oslo . The religious structure is known under the name of Briarch in Borgund (Borgunne). Historians believe that this is one of the few ancient churches of the skeleton type that has survived to this day. Archaeological excavations have shown that such mast structures in the territory of modern Norway were built a little more than 1500. But in a varying degree of preservation until the XXI century survived only 28 of these buildings.

Today the church Borgund is a whole architectural complex. In addition to the old building, it includes:

Archaeologists believe that the church Borgund in Norway was erected on the site of an even more ancient religious building. His features were discovered during excavations under the floor. Breadgun Borgund is unique because it is one of the few buildings built during the period of major changes in the history of Norway and at the same time the bubonic plague raging in the country.

Evidence of this are, among other things, the ancient burials of soldiers who died in the civil war of the period 1177-1184. Since 1877 the whole complex belongs to the Society for the Protection of Antiquities of Monuments of Norway. In the betting Borgund a museum is opened, telling about Medieval Norway and wireframe churches.

What is unique about Bentgran's Bidding?

Very interesting facts about the temple, which will tell the staff of the museum, are the following:

  1. Scientists suggest that the church Borgund was built around 1150-80 in honor of Andrew the First-Called. They built it out of the sacred material for those times - ash. In the mythology of the Scandinavians, ash is the World Tree that connects heaven, earth and the kingdom of the dead, and its crown, Valhalla, is the abode of all the gods.
  2. The symbolism of St. Andrew the First-Called - crossed crosses - adorned the fences on the upper galleries. An interesting aspect is the sculptural decoration of skates on the roof: they are executed in the form of dragons. It is believed that the builders tried in the guise of the church Borgund to embody a number of pagan and newly arrived images of Christianity. For example, runic insignia-symbols with a lot of snake heads are surrounded by iron door handles in the western portal.
  3. The interior decoration of the church was originally very colorful and brightly painted. Remains of paint were preserved only in the fissures of ash and on some small details of decoration. In the middle of the twentieth century, an important landmark of Norway, the Church of Borgund, was completely conserved - abundantly coated with resins. Because of this, it is externally very black, but it has survived to this day.
  4. The cultural legacy of the Borgund stakes is that it has not been subjected to any major technological and decorating changes. The technology and skill of the ancient builders is the main secret, thanks to which an interesting religious structure has been standing for almost 900 years. The fires did not bypass the church side, but the skilled architects restored it every time.

The technology of construction of a bitch

When studying materials and aspects of the architecture of the Borgund church in Norway, some technological features of its structure were revealed:

  1. All the trees used in the construction of the stakes were kept on the root so that the wood tar would come to the surface. And only after that they were cut down and processed. This technique significantly increases the life span of any structure.
  2. All semicircles of arches, which support the upper choruses, are made of natural radical parts of wood knees. Those. these elements are themselves shaped by nature to hold huge loads from above.
  3. The church of Borgund consists of more than 2000 elements, but there are no metal parts among them so that the tree does not begin to rot and dry before time. This method of construction is very laborious and laborious.
  4. The whole frame of the racks was originally assembled on the ground, and then it was raised to the height of the stone foundation with the help of very long poles.

How to get to the church?

It's more convenient to get to Breadth by bus from Oslo, your stop is Borgund stavkirke. Past Borgund church passes highway 630 Oslo-Lerdal, turn to Borgund, 25 km from Lerdal. Traveling in Norway independently, be guided by the coordinates: 61.047297, 7.812191.

Fans of hiking and cycling are encouraged to stroll along the historic royal road Vindhellavegen. It is no longer passing through and more like a path that begins at the threshold of the church of Borgund. The walk time is about 1.5 hours in both directions.

The museum complex is open for visits in the summer from 11 June to 21 August from 8:00 to 20:00 daily, and the rest from 10:00 to 17:00. On the territory there is a restaurant, a lounge and a souvenir shop.