Construction of Urnes Stave Church

Urnes Stave Church is a wooden church above the Lustrafjord, an arm of the Sognefjord in western Norway, and is the oldest of Norway's stave churches. It is noted for its carvings, which show animals and plants in flowing, interlaced patterns, and which gave their name to the Urnes style, the last phase of Viking art. The north portal, with its carved slender animals entwined with vines, is the best known part, and is thought to have been taken from an earlier church on the site. Stave churches are made with a framework of vertical posts, or staves. Urnes was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1979.

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