We went to the Heritage Hjemkomst Interpretive Center in Moorhead, Minnesota, last weekend. We wanted to see something interesting while we were there, but we didn't want to go somewhere where lots of germ-sharing was likely, like the children's museum.
Inside the museum is the Hjemkomst Viking ship, a replica that was built by a Minnesota man in the '70s and sailed from Duluth to Norway by a group of his friends and family in 1982.
They had to have been crazy to strike out on the ocean in that little thing, but they made it.
Right outside the museum is a replica Norwegian stave church, the type of churches built in Norway shortly after the Viking age.
It's beautiful inside in its way, but so cold and barren compared to what I expect from a church. Of course, it was cold and cloudy the day we were there. But there is no seating, the wood is unfinished with just a bit of painting in one area, and there aren't many windows. And then there's extensive, detailed carving in many places. It's primitive but extremely ornate at the same time.
I like your picture of the church ceiling.
ReplyDeleteI saw this one in Oslo a few years ago; it was painted quite heavliy on the inside.
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