The Washington weekly post. (Washington, D.C.) 1878-1916, 1899-08-08
OLDEST WOODEN CHURCH.
Built by Missionaries in Norway seven
Hundred Years Ago

From TIE san Francisco Call
Nearly zoo years ago the first Christian
missionaries established themselves N ihs
neighb0rnood OF B0rguEG, Moray anu q.
onse built church. The structure was q
rough wooden logs held together b peg
and doyetni.ed joints and Is stu s;SnolAs
to-day as good as ever. This - coAcraee
"a De the oldest church In all Norway. aiid
many scholars SO so far a. 20 say mat Il
is thC Oldest in the northern part % bG-
rope Even the Russian churches mus
take second place In point Of age There
ia little doubt but that IL Is the oiaes'
wooden church in the world
At a first glance the old wooden church
seems to Be all roofs. The ground door
OF the structure is a long, low colOnnaoe.
Above this rise two rows Of roofs cover
ing the side naves. Another roof covers
the center nave. and browning al IS con
siomerate peak OF heavy timbers ana
thick shingles. The entire exterior OF the
structure Is thickly grown With brent
green moss The shingles are OrnamCatca
with ali sorts OF smbiems that IN days
gone by meant words 10 the hearts Of a.
good NoTsCmen.
In the days when the old church was
built the blockhouse was the general type
Of architecture in the northern part OF
Europe. Naturally IL would be expected
that this style OF architecture would pre-
vail, but It does not. In fact, there is hard
~ trace of it to be seen.
The interior arrangement shows a row
Of posts set upright and held together b.
heavy woodwork. on these posts the
frame OF the church is set There are real
~ two parts TO the interior OF the church.
These might be called the choir and the
feh s.ra = T. II.
and terminates in an oval altar niche.
There are three naves on the inside OF
the church, the middle one being the
higher. In general construction this sug-
sests the Roman Basilica.
There are three places Of entrance 10
this quaint old wooden church All are
Of magnificent proportions and grand de-
sign. But the most wonderful OF all is
the carving with which the doors are or
namented. This is really creditabIc work
and a close examination shows the work
was done with axes.
On entering the church the visitor Is
impressed with a sense Of gloom and has
TO grope his way about. An examination
shows that this is due to the fact that
there are no windows to speak Uf, only
row of holes extending around the up
per walls where they join the roof. There
are no shutters glass or window frames.
Winter and summer the holes are open
so that the ventilation is perfect
The result Of this sanitary arrangement
is that the people of the district GO not
20 10 church in the winter season, which
is equivalent to saying that they Go not
20 to church more than a small part OF
the year. And yet the services are held
regularly whenever the priest comes 10
the parish. But he breaches to an empty
house when the people think it is too cold
TO go to church.
In other ways. besides a lack of heating
arrangements, is the church careless OF
the welfare OF its Worshipers, for there
are no seats provided. There is a bench
at one side of the altar for the Aldermen
and the Burgomaster OF Borgund; the
rest Of the congregation have to sit on
the floor or stand. And yet the people Of
the district revere their old church, for it
is the only one OF its kind In the world.