Gol Stave Church

Gol Stave Church tickets: which one to buy

Gol Stave Church stands in the Norwegian Museum of Cultural History, the Norsk Folkemuseum, on the Bygdøy peninsula in Oslo, Norway, and it is visited with the museum's ticket. It is one of the most famous medieval wooden churches in Norway and the highlight of the museum's open-air collection, which brings together more than 150 historic buildings from across the country. The museum is reached by bus from the city centre or, in summer, by ferry from the City Hall pier across the harbour.

Visitors often combine it with the other museums on Bygdøy: the Fram Museum, with its polar exploration ship, the Kon-Tiki Museum, the Norwegian Maritime Museum and the Museum of the Viking Age, which is being rebuilt to display the Viking ships. In summer, guides in traditional costume explain the buildings, and craft demonstrations and folk dances bring the museum to life. The church is not used for regular services, but weddings are held there. A replica of the church was built in the village of Gol, in the Hallingdal valley, where the original once stood, for travellers who want to see it in its home landscape.

Visiting Gol Stave Church: what to see

The church was built in Gol, in the Hallingdal valley, probably around the early thirteenth century, using the stave technique, in which the walls are made of vertical wooden planks set on sills and supported by tall corner posts, a construction method unique to medieval Scandinavia. In the nineteenth century the congregation wanted a larger church, and the old building was to be demolished, but it was bought and saved, and King Oscar II had it moved to his collection on Bygdøy, where it was reconstructed in the 1880s as one of the first buildings of the open-air museum.

The church's exterior has steep, layered roofs covered with wooden shingles, crowned by carved dragon heads, which recall the decoration of Viking ships, and an outer gallery runs around the walls. The west portal is decorated with intricate carvings of intertwined dragons and foliage. Inside, the church is dark, lit through small openings, and the tall posts rise to the roof. The chancel's walls and ceiling are painted with scenes and figures, including images from the Bible, largely from a later period, and the altar, pulpit and furnishings reflect the centuries of use after the Reformation. When the church was moved, some parts were replaced, following other stave churches, including Borgund.

Gol Stave Church opening hours and the best time to go

The museum is open daily, with longer hours from mid-May to mid-September, and the stave church interior is open mainly in the summer season. Summer is the best time, with activities, guides and ferries to Bygdøy, and it is also the busiest. The Christmas market held at the museum on December weekends is atmospheric. Winters are cold and snowy, but the church looks beautiful in the snow. Allow about half an hour for the church, and two to three hours for the whole museum.