Lom Stave Church


Lom Stave Church is a stave church located in Lom municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. Lom is situated in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal.

History

The church is a triple nave stave church that uses free standing inner columns to support a raised section in the ceiling of the main nave. This type of church is amongst the oldest Stave Churches. The church was first situated in a sub valley to the valley Gudbrandsdal in Oppland County, some west of Otta.
The church dates to approximately second part of 12th century. It was rebuilt into a cruciform church during the 17th century, which gave it the appearance it has retained since. The chancel was decorated in 1608, and the nave was enlarged towards west in 1634. The cross section was added in 1663, but this was made in stave like frame work. Master builder Werner Olsen was engaged for the remodel and extension. He was active in Gudbrandsdal and had previously worked on Vågå church and Ringebu stave church.
A complete restoration also took place in 1933. An archaeological excavation was conducted in 1973 in connection with the repair of the floors. The excavations uncovered artifacts including more than 2,000 coins. At that same time, a renovation began to improve thermal insulation.
This stave church is actually one of just a very few stave churches of which the original medieval crest with a dragon head still survives.

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