Garmo Stave Church

Garmo Stave Church is the architectural jewel of the Maihaugen open-air museum, a dark, compact medieval church whose vertical planking and carved dragon-head gables make it look like something between a Viking longhouse and a Buddhist pagoda. The stave technique gives the building a characteristic silhouette — steeply pitched roof with upturned eaves — that is unmistakable even from a distance.

The interior is small and dark, with a medieval atmosphere that larger and later churches rarely preserve. Original carved details survive on the door portals and some interior timbers. The church is used for occasional services and seasonal events. It sits within Maihaugen's grounds and is included in the museum admission; it can also be seen from outside the perimeter fence.

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A story
The Garmo Stave Church is believed to date to the 13th century, though some of its structural timbers may be older. It was dismantled at its original site in the Gudbrandsdal valley in 1882 when a new stone church was built to replace it, and stored until Anders Sandvig had it re-erected at Maihaugen in 1921. The stave construction technique — vertical planks seated in a sill plate, with a skeleton of load-bearing corner posts — was used for Norwegian churches from roughly 1000 to 1300 CE; Garmo is one of about 28 surviving examples worldwide, most of them in Norway.