Lom Stave Church

South view of the church

The Lom Stave Church is a stave church built in the 12th century in the Norwegian province of Oppland. The church is situated about sixty kilometers west of Otta in a tributary of Gudbrandsdalen in the municipality of Lom (Norway). It is dedicated to Mary, John the Baptist and St. Olav. It is one of the largest preserved stave churches.

History

It was first mentioned in writing in 1270, studies of the oldest preserved pine wooden parts have shown, however, that its construction began around 1158. It was a stave church in the basilica style with a rectangular floor plan and a revolving low portico ( Svalgang ). After the Reformation, dated around 1537 in Norway, made ​​structural changes. The choir was awarded in 1608 a richly decorated ceiling and at the same time you also adorned the entrance to the choir room. 1634 was on the west side, add a wooden annex after the portico had been removed. 1663 was followed by north and south aisle Attachments with upright timber. So the church was a cruciform floor plan. 1664 the bell tower was built, reinforcements were needed to the base body. To avoid this the looks, the ceiling had to be suspended. Three bronze bells were hung.

In 1933 the entire building was extensively renovated.

Architecture

The church building is a long church, the nave and chancel have a raised central space on. Nave and choir emerged at the same time and show the typical rod technology with high wooden columns and wall planks. These components were originally painted in color, but this is no longer maintained. The roof of the nave is braced by pliers, diagonal crosses and Romanesque arches, which together form a circumferential border.

The roof is covered with wood shingles and has a roof turret. The roof edges were provided with large carved dragon heads.

The entire wooden structure is protected by an outer Teeranstrich to weathering.

Interior decoration

Extensive carving adorns the interior, as motifs were leaves, flowers and animals, especially dragons. Particularly striking is the full color be painted chancel. The altarpiece was made using a donation from the population and in 1669 suspended. The side of the cloister there is a pulpit and on the other hand, a clerk chair. The original pulpit in the Renaissance style is only available in parts, in the year of local artists Jacob Sæterdalen decorated them with new Akanthusschnitzereien. He also carved the new chancel arch. The pews, windows and galleries are from the end of the 17th century. In the central nave hanging chandeliers and a historic banner, whose motive is to irrigate the fields of the environment. The numerous paintings of Lomer church probably date from the pastor's son Eggert Munch Vågåmo. They are seen as an important church image collection in Norway. A donation of emigrants to the U.S. citizens was used to purchase an organ which was inaugurated here in 1909 and a beautifully carved organ case shows. Since 1960 it is electrically powered. In 1966, they had to be revised to a large extent, the carved prospectus was however re-used.