Olavskirken - Avaldsnes

St. Olav’s Church

Text: Marit Synnøve Vea

The chancel door opens outwards - a clear sign that there was once a room directly outside it. The hall and the church was probably connected. (Photo Marit Synnøve Vea)

The chancel door opens outwards – a clear sign that there was once a passageway outside it. The covered passageway led to the royal hall. (Photo Marit S. Vea)

St Olav’s church (St Olaf’s church) at Avaldsnes was built by King Håkon Håkonsson around 1250 as part of the royal manor complex at a time when Norway’s power was at its greatest. In 2017, the ruins of a fortified royal hall was excavated south of the church. The hall ended in a gate tower. From the tower a covered passageway in two floors led up to the chancel.

A CHURCH FOR PILEGRIMS
Håkon Håkonsson consecrated the church to St. Olav, and the church became an important stopping place for pilgrims going to Nidaros. There are still place names and tales from North Karmøy which remind us of this pilgrim route.

In earlier times St Olav’s Church had both an Olav’s altar and an altar that was dedicated to the Virgin Mary, and perhaps there was also a St Michael’s altar.

On the north side of the church we can see a bricked up door. This was the pilgrims’ entrance, as they always had to enter any church with their backs to the north. If you take the same way as the pilgrims you can see curved marks and runes from both olden and more modern times on the grey church walls.

Avaldsnes kongsgård rundt år 1300. (Ill. Arkikon)

Avaldsnes Royal Manor around 1300. (Ill. Arkikon)

THE COLLEGIATE CHURCH
Early in the 1300’s Håkon Magnusson made St Olav’s Church one of only four royal collegiate churches in Norway, the others being at Tønsberg, Bergen and Oslo. Now St. Olav’s Church at Avaldsnes is the only one of the four left.

The royal collegiate churches were the ‘universities’ of their time, a place where the King could have his own trusted priests and advisers, all the other churches being under the control of bishops appointed by Rome. The royal collegiate churches were under the direct control of the King and were an important instrument in his power structure. All this tells us that the Royal Manor at Avaldsnes had a very important position in the 1200’s and 1300’s.

“Avaldsnes on Karmøy 1813″, Painting by I.C. Dahl. (Photo J. Lathion, National Gallery)

DECEY
After the Reformation in 1536, the church fell into disrepair. In the midst of the 19th Century the restoration work started and in 1929 the restoration was completed and the church was restored as you see it today.

ST OLAV’S CHURCH DURING THE 2. WORLD WAR
During the 2. World War the Germans wanted to tear down the church tower because British pilots used it as a landmark when they should bomb the strait Karmsund. But the National Heritage authorities together with the locals managed to prevent it because they built a wooden skeleton over the church. The intention was that the church should look like a hill from the air.

From all over Karmøy young candidates for confirmation came to Avaldsnes to be confirmed illegal in the St Olav’s church.

viking — Vikings

The Viking Age was the years between 750 – 1100 when people from Norway, Sweden and Denmark made a name for themselves and became a political force to be reckoned with throughout Europe. From their travels in Europe, they adopted new ideas, cultural impulses and a new religion – Christianity.

The Vikings are best known as pirates and warriors, but they were also sailors, merchants, craftsmen, farmers, fishermen, poets, explorers and nation-builders. The Scandinavian national states were founded during the Viking Age. And it is now the Northerners develop a vessel that better organized and wealthier societies on the Continent don’t have; The Viking ship. It was the seaworthiness of the Viking ships, together with the sailors’ knowledge of navigation and seamanship, which made it possible for them to conquer the ocean .
Read more here

vikinggard — Viking Farm

The Viking Farm is situated a ten minutes’ walk from the Middle Age church at Avaldsnes. You will find it on a small, forested island, just inside the rocks where king Olav Tryggvason in 998 drowned a group of wizards.

In the farmyard you will find a longhouse, a boat house for a Viking warship, a roundhouse and several smaller buildings. Outside the farmyard there are paths through the forest for those who will just seek some peace and tranquility.

In the summer season the Viking Farm is open for tourists. All year in the evenings and in weekends it is possible to rent the longhouse for guided tours and banquets. Each year in June there is a Viking Festival at the Viking Farm. Then Vikings from many countries set up their tents among the reconstructed buildings.
Read more here

The sagas tell that king Olav Tryggvason opened several burial mounds at Avaldsnes. (Photo Ørjan Iversen) — History Centre

Nordvegen History Centre tells the story about how Avaldsnes became The First Royal Throne of Norway. Harald Fairhair, the king who unified Norway into one kingdom, will present you for princes and kings who ruled the “North Way” from Avaldsnes.

Some of these rulers we know from the sagas of the Norwegian kings, the heroic sagas and old skaldic poems. Others have become known to us through archaeological digs.
You will also get a glimpse into the magic world that people once believed to be true and meet sorcerers, shield maidens and Norse gods.

At the Nordvegen History Centre, we tell these stories of old using films, sound clips, lights, figures and objects. WELCOME TO AN EXCITING VISIT!
Read more here

St. Olav’s Church

Vikings

Viking Farm

History Centre