Urnes stave church
Urnes is the oldest stave church in Norway. Stave churches are a special building style used during the Middle Ages in Norway. Urnes church is built upon parts of an even older church, something the rich decorated north portal is a witness of.
The wood used in the north portal dates back to 1050, and the decoration has given origin to the Urnes style.
Urnes is the only stave church listed on the World Heritage List from the United Nations. This list contains some of the greatest buildings ever created by man, such as the Pyramids of Egypt, the Castle in Versailles in France and cathedrals in Europe.

Most of the oldest Norwegian stave churches were stave churches. Tree was the natural building material in these times,and Norway had in the Middle Ages lots of this material.
There is about 29 stave churches in Norway today. Urnes is the oldest among these.

The wooden church of Urnes stands in the natural setting of Sogn og Fjordane. It was built in the 12th and 13th centuries and is an outstanding example of traditional Scandinavian wooden architecture. It brings together traces of Celtic art, Viking traditions and Romanesque spatial structures.
The oldest church that we know of in Norway was discovered through an archaeological excavation under the floor in the church currently standing in Urnes.

Traces of a wooden church with poles sunk in holes in the earth have been found. Later another church was built upon the old with rich decorated wall paintings. Large parts of the material from the original tanding church was reused in the new church which dates back to around year 1130. See also www.stavechurch.no

Urnes gard
Urnes was during the Middle Ages seat for the gentry and noblemen in the area.
In the 13th century Urnes was the greatest farm in Sogn, and towards the end of the 14th century probably one of the greatest seats for the whole nobility in Norway. Up until 1773 Urnes was a nobility seat until the catholic bishop in Bergen bought the farm. Later his daughter took over and she married the priest Jens Bugge from Leikanger. By and by the farm was divided into smaller farms. Urnes farm today is the same as the former nobility seat in Urnes. Today you can eat and stay overnight at Urnes Farm.