Urnes stave church

Urnes stave church is a stave church near Lustrafjorden in Sogn og Fjordane, Norway.

The church was built around 1100-1150 and is believed to be the oldest such building remaining in Norway. The building provides a link between the construction methods of the Viking Age with typical animal-ornamentation, the church gave it's name to the "Urnes-style" of animal-art, and Christian architecture.

Many historians believe that there was a church, or possibly two churches, on the site prior to the current building, the earliest possibly dating to the early 11th century. The current church's northen side, decorated in classic Urnes-style, dates from this earlier time.

In 1979 the Urnes stave church was listed as a world heritage site by UNESCO, where it joins such other famous locations as the Great Pyramid of Giza and Stonehenge.