page_title: Churches in Norway
section_title: Gothic
hierarchical_section_title: Churches in Norway / Designs / Style / Gothic
caption_attribution_description: English: Borgund stave church and the Borgund church in Lærdal, Sogn og Fjordane country, Norway.
context_page_description: Church building in Norway began when Christianity was established there around the year 1000. The first buildings may have been post churches erected in the 10th or 11th century, but the evidence is inconclusive. For instance under Urnes Stave Church and Lom Stave Church there are traces of older post churches. Post churches were later replaced by the more durable stave churches. About 1,300 churches were built during the 12th and 13th centuries in what was Norway's first building boom. A total of about 3,000 churches have been built in Norway, although nearly half of them have perished. From 1620 systematic records and accounts were kept although sources prior to 1620 are fragmented. Evidence about early and medieval churches is partly archaeological. The "long church" is the most common type of church in Norway. There are about 1620 buildings recognized as churches affiliated with the Church of Norway. In addition, there are a number of gospel halls belonging to the lay movement affiliated with the Church of Norway as well as churches belonging to other Christian bodies.
context_section_description: Gothic style was probably introduced by Håkon Håkonssen around 1240 and the style became dominant during the 13th century until church building came to a standstill after 1300 – lesser work on the Nidaros Cathedral however continued throughout the Middle Ages. Nidaros Cathedral is the only Norwegian church building where the full array of Gothic elements, including flying buttresses, is used. Other buildings with notable Gothic elements or additions include Utstein Abbey and Stavanger Cathedral. The typical rib vault was rarely used in Norwegian medieval Gothic, church builders instead relied on various types of timber roof trusses. On exception is the octagonal apse with rib vaults in Alstadhaug Church, probably inspired by the Nidaros octagon. Voss Church at Vossevangen is a 13th-century stone church in Gothic style, but with a wooden roof construction. The monumental Trondenes Church is a late medieval Gothic building with some Romanesque elements. The great St Magnus Cathedral on Orkney was built during the Norse period when Orkney was under the Archbishop of Nidaros. The soapstone portal in Dale Church (Luster) in English Gothic style is the most "magnificent" in any rural church according to Østby. The modest western entrance of Bergen Cathedral is an example of austere Gothic architecture.
  During the church building boom following the 1851 Church Act, several Neo-Gothic churches were built in log and masonry. The large Kristiansand Cathedral for instance is a Neo-Gothic brick and cement construction. Bamble Church is an early example of wood construction Neo-Gothic inspired by local traditions. Tromsø Cathedral is also a wood construction in neo-gothic style. Lillesand Church (1889) were constructed in timber frame with combination of neo-gothic and Swiss chalet style.
caption: The new Borgund Church is inspired by the stave church[8]
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