Borgund Stave Church

Borgund Stave Church is a former parish church of the Church of Norway in Lærdal Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The old stave church is located in the village of Borgund. It was the church for the Lærdal parish in the Diocese of Bjørgvin) until 1868 when it was closed and turned into a museum. The brown, wooden church was built in a stave church style around the year 1200. It is classified as a triple-nave stave church of the Sogn-type. No longer regularly used for church functions, it is now a museum run by the Society for the Preservation of Ancient Norwegian Monuments. It was replaced by the "new" Borgund Church in 1868.
Borgund Stave Church was built sometime between 1180 and 1250 AD with later additions and restorations. Its walls are formed by vertical wooden boards, or staves, hence the name "stave church." The four corner posts are connected to one another by ground sills, resting on a stone foundation. The intervening staves rise from the ground sills; each is tongued and grooved, to interlock with its neighbours and form a sturdy wall.

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