Grip Stave Church, Kristiansund

Møre og Romsdal · Norge · Church

In 1796 the storm blew almost every house on the island into the sea. The church held – with St Margaret on its altarpiece, the saint who guards against storms.

Grip lies fifteen kilometres straight out into the open sea from Kristiansund, a scatter of skerries whose highest point reaches eight metres above the waves. On that point, around 1470, one of Norway's smallest and simplest stave churches was raised. The island was home to poor fishing and pilot families who lived with the sea as a constant threat: in the storm surge of 1796 most of the houses on Grip were blown straight into the water. The church held. On the altarpiece stands St Margaret, patron of seafarers and guardian against storms, and for generations she was not decoration but a lifeline. Today no one lives on the island year-round; in summer a service is held every third week in a church standing alone with the whole North Atlantic around it.

FAQ

Hvor ligger Grip Stave Church, Kristiansund?

Grip Stave Church, Kristiansund ligger i Møre og Romsdal, Norge.