Fantoft Stave Church (Norwegian: Fantoft stavkirke; Nynorsk: Fantoft stavkyrkje) is a reconstructed stave church in the Fana borough of the city of Bergen, Norway.[1]
History
editThe church was originally built around the year 1150 at Fortun in Sogn, a village near the inner or eastern end of Sognefjord. In 1879, the new Fortun Church (Fortun kyrkje) was constructed as a replacement for the medieval stave church. Fantoft Stave Church was threatened with demolition, as were hundreds of other stave churches in Norway. Fantoft Stave Church was bought by consul Fredrik Georg Gade and saved by moving it in pieces to Fana near Bergen in 1883. Outside the church stands a stone cross from Tjora in Sola.[2][3]
On 6 June 1992, the church was destroyed by arson; the first in a string of church burnings by members of the early Norwegian black metal scene. At first, the fire was thought to have been caused by lightning or an electrical failure. In 1994, Varg Vikernes of the one-man band Burzum was found guilty of burning Old Åsane Church and Storetveit Church in Bergen, the burning of Skjold Church in Vindafjord, and the burning of Holmenkollen Chapel in Oslo. He was also charged with the burning of Fantoft Stave Church, although the jurors voted not guilty. The judges called this an error but did not overturn the decision. Reconstruction of the church began soon after the fire, taking six years to complete. Since 1997, the church has been surrounded by a security fence.[4][5]
A photograph of the church's burnt shell appeared on the cover of the 1993 Burzum EP Aske (Norwegian for "ashes").[6]
Gallery
edit-
Details of church's roof -
Fantoft Stave Church -
Fantoft Stave Church chandelier -
Fantoft Stave Church chancel -
Fantoft Stave Church rafters and posts -
Fantoft Stave Church baptistery -
Fantoft Stave Church ceiling -
Fantoft Stave Church decorative art -
Stone cross outside Fantoft Stave Church -
Fantoft Stave Church at night
See also
edit- Until the Light Takes Us, documentary film that includes a clip on the arson
References
edit- ^ Nina Aldin Thune. "Fantoft stavkirke". Store norske leksikon. Retrieved December 15, 2016.
- ^ Anne Marta Hoff. "Fortun kyrkje". Norges Kirker. Retrieved November 1, 2017.
- ^ "Fantoft Stave Church History". Fantoft Stavkirke. Retrieved November 1, 2017.
- ^ "Fantoft stavkirke". Kunsthistorie. Retrieved December 15, 2016.
- ^ "Metal-fans valfarter til stavkirke". NRK Hordaland. Archived from the original on 2004-08-11. Retrieved November 1, 2017.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ Campion, Chris (2005-02-20). "In the face of death". The Observer. Guardian Unlimited. Retrieved 2007-10-06.
External links
edit
- Fantoft Stavkirke (in Norwegian)