Urnes wooden plank church - Norway

Unesco's Scientific, Educational and Cultural Organization has recognized the Urnes Wood Plank Church of Norway as a World Cultural Heritage in 1979.

Urnes plank church - World cultural heritage in Norway

The wooden plank church in Urnes is a wood-paneled church located on the province of Ornes , Sogn og Fjordane. The church was built around 1130 and is the oldest church built with wooden planks of the same type in Norway. The architecture of the church is built between the Christian architectural style and the Viking art and the indigenous decoration that creates the "Urnes style".

According to archaeologists, in front of the Urnes plank church there were 1 or 2 churches built on this land. Excavations have shown that the piles of the church have walls and short piles that were erected earlier.
In the 17th century, the space between the church was extended to the south and some other small works were built. The sink was built in 1640, the wooden dome above the altar was built in 1665 and the lecture hall was completed in 1695. The large picture behind the altar depicts Jesus and Mary having the word in 1699. The windows were repaired later in the 18th century.

Historians believe that this church was originally built specifically for farms. Until medieval times, it was transformed into a parish church. Information about this place was recorded on paper for the first time in 1323 during a visit by the priest named Sira Aenlender. According to the priest's record, the church's owner may be Gaut - one of the trusted characters of King Magnus Erlingssong (1161-1184). In 1720, pastor Christoffer Munthe bought this church and then sold it to the lay community in 1855. The Norwegian Association for the Preservation of Memories Works continued to buy this church in 1881 when the missionary Urnes and Solvorn merge together. However, there is still a clause that the buyer must do so to allow the parishioners to continue using the cemetery to bury the dead and to use the church to celebrate the worship ceremony twice a year.

The wooden design is simple but very special in church architecture

With architecture combined between many different styles, Urnes wooden plank church therefore has a very special style. The main door of the church has the shape of a snake wrapped above it and a four-legged animal grabs the snake . This image is intended to describe the battle between good and evil . The four-legged animal represents the lion. In Christian symbolism, the lion symbolizes the Christian lord, fighting the snake, symbolizing Satan. There are also some who believe that this image represents scenes in Norse mythology: the 4-legged animal is the dragon, the snakes entwined and the dragon greedily refers to the end of the world.

After the last time the windows were repaired in the 18th century, the church was severely damaged after the restoration of the middle of the 20th century. People have used decorative wall panels to hide damaged parts in the church. However, most of the medieval basic architecture such as soap, base, threshold of the column is still between intact and in good preservation condition.

The image of the swarming up and a four-legged animal symbolizing good and evil

Urnes plank church is recognized by Unesco as a World Cultural Heritage under the criteria (i), (ii), (iii).

Criterion (i): Urnes plank church is a prominent example of traditional wooden architecture in Norway. Besides, this project also has high artistic value because of the perfect combination between many different architectural styles.

Criterion (ii): Urnes plank church is an illustration of the development of wooden structures and is also a testament to the development of regional crafts .

Criterion (iii): Urnes wooden plank church is a church with a superior architecture than the constructions built with the same materials because of the sophistication in decoration as well as the use of local materials. make furniture for the project.