Today’s adventures would take us to the Urnes Stave Church in Ornes, a drive around the Lustrafjorden and a hike up to the Nigardsbreen glacier. We woke up with the clouds still lingering over Hafslo Lake.
We had breakfast and left for the short drive (2.5 miles) to Solvorn to catch the ferry over to Ornes. Our Airbnb host, Kiki, told us to get to the ferry a half hour before it departs as it is a very small ferry and only runs once every hour so if it’s full, we’d have to wait another hour before the next one.
Our route for the day.
We arrived in Solvorn, parked the car in the ferry line, and walked around the little village taking in the sunshine and reflections on the fjord.
We boarded the ferry and made the journey across the fjord to Ornes.
Some views of the countryside from the ferry as we were crossing the fjord.
We docked in Ornes and drove up the hill to the church and purchased tickets for the tour that was to start in a few minutes. Of the original approximately 1,000 stave churches in Norway, 28 remain. Urnes stave church is the eldest and most highly decorated of them. The church was built around 1130 or shortly thereafter, and still stands in its original location. It provides a link between Christian architecture and the architecture and artforms of the Viking Age with typical animal-ornamentation, the so-called “Urnes style” of animal-art.
The church is treated with pine tar which preserves the wood. This gives the church the dark color.
On the other side of the church the tar has weathered off. You can see quite the contrast in the color of the wood.
On the north wall there is an elaborately carved gateway. In the field on the lower left there is an animal with a characteristic mane, a lion. Over and around the lion there is a network of snakes and ring shaped animals partially attacking the lion, partially each other.
Inside the church.
Originally, light entered through small, round portholes. This was the only form of natural light in the church.
Windows were installed after the Reformation in the 18th century.
Some of the diagonal cross braces were added in the Middle Ages to make room for an alter or ceremonial canopy. Other braces were added later for reinforcement. The ceiling is from the end of the 17th century. It was originally an an open construction and resembled an upturned boat, where the rafters were similar to the ribs of a boat.
This group of figures depicts the scene at Golgotha: Jesus suffering on the cross and Mary and John as grieving witnesses. They are from the 12th century, the oldest in the country.
The Urnes style is characteristic of high quality stylized animals in battle.
The wooden canopy above the altar was added in 1665. The altarpiece, which depicts Christ on the cross with the Virgin Mary and John the Baptist, dates from 1699.
The pulpit was added in the 1690s (1693–1695).
After touring the church, we headed on from Ornes to drive around Lustrafjorden. Lustrafjorden is an approximately 40 kilometer long arm of the Sognefjord. The fjord is surrounded by tall and steep mountainsides and, of course, waterfalls.
Some captures of the wildflowers.
A little further down the road we came to Feigefossen, a 229 meter high waterfall. Here is shot from the road.
There was a trail leading up closer to the waterfall which was quite steep and slippery. The trail was rocky and also muddy with wet tree roots on the trail. We proceeded up.
After slipping and sliding our way back down to the car, we continued on our drive.
We arrived at Skjolden at the end of the fjord and continued on around to the other side of the fjord to the small town of Luster and stopped at a bakery for a little snack.
Across from the bakery was the Dale Church. The church reflects both Romanesque and Gothic style. The medieval era church was built around the year 1240 and it was dedicated to Saint Nicholas. The church seats about 200 people. We didn’t take the time to go in but did take a photo.
From Luster we continued to Gaupne where we turned north onto route 604 towards the Nigardsbreen glacier. Nigardsbreen is a glacier arm of the large Jostedalsbreen glacier and lies about 30 kilometers (19 miles) north of Gaupne in the Jostedalen valley.
We made a short stop at the Breheim Center. From here you could see the glacier snaking down the valley.
From the center we took the short drive up to the parking lot to take the hike up to the base of the glacier. In front of the Nigardsbreen is the lake Nigardsbrevatnet.
We headed up the rocks. There wasn’t so much a trail but markings on the rocks to show you which way to go. We headed up towards the glacier.
You can take a guided hike on the glacier itself. We didn’t do this but we saw several groups on the glacier.
A look back towards the lake.
It was a little windy up by the glacier!
We headed back down to the car and continued on back in the direction of Hafslo. Several stops along the way to photograph more waterfalls.
We arrived back at our apartment in Hafslo to take in the views from the lake again from our place. Another beautiful day in the fjord lands of Norway!
Linhart Photography - Hiking and Travel Adventures 