New stave church to be built in Setesdal
It's been almost a 1000 years since last time
[soundtrack : Ragnhild Hemsing plays the Hardanger fiddle - "Valdresguten"]
There has been talk of building a traditional stave church at Rysstad in Setesdal for some time. Even a town-mouse like me has heard of it, if only because I work with a ‘tømrermester’ (‘Master Timber Builder’) who lives just up the road from the proposed building site. According to a news article by our state broadcaster NRK the driving forces behind the project seem to have found the necessary money and have hired Sandra Birkenes, a social anthropologist with a Master in Art Photography as Project Manager.
According to the article the work will be done the old way; Timber will be locally sourced and pulled by horse over frozen ground to the site — so as to get the right wear-patterns on the logs. Timber to be hewn, not sawn or planed.
The new church will be a copy of Borgund Stavkirke from 1181. Building is scheduled to start in 2024 and estimated to cost 112 mill. NOK (10,8 mill. US $). The project is estimated to take 6 years and involve almost one thousand craftsmen. Emphasis will be placed on authentic praxis.
