Røldal stave church

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Røldal stave church (Røldal stavkyrkje) is a stave church at Røldal in Odda municipality, Hardanger, Norway and was built in the 13th century.

The little church is best known for its miraculous crucifix, from which, legend has it, drops of water emerged every Midsummer Night. This fluid was supposed to have a curative effect. Whether anyone was actually cured of an illness is unknown.

Røldal stave church received generous gifts from many of the pilgrims who visited it, and as a result the little village was quite wealthy during the Middle Ages. In the 17th century the interior was richly decorated with wall paintings.

In the late 19th century the church was reconstructed, and some of the history of the church was recovered. This led to a large investigation of how the church was built. The results was that Røldal stave church was quite different from other stave churches, and much controversy about whether this is a stave church or in fact a post church [1]. This is an older type which is generally assumed to have been replaced.

[edit] Reference

• Jørgen H. Jensenius. Viking, vol. LXI, 1998: 131-145

[edit] External links

• Røldal stave church in Stavkirke.org — in Norwegian