Skaga stave church, Stave church in Karlsborg Municipality, Sweden
Skaga stave church is a wooden church in Karlsborg Municipality built with vertical timber posts that support the roof structure. The interior and exterior feature carved decorative details characteristic of medieval Scandinavian construction methods.
The church was first built in the 1130s during Scandinavia's conversion to Christianity. It was demolished centuries later and rebuilt twice, with the most recent reconstruction finished in 2001.
The name comes from Skaga, the daughter of the Viking Ramunder the Evil, who according to legend built the church where pagan sacrifices had taken place. The church was dedicated to John the Baptist, and sacrifices were offered to the "holy one in Skagen". A silver bleak hung above the pulpit, said to have been donated by a man who caught no fish.
The church stands in Tiveden forest by a spring that was a pagan sacrificial site before Christianization. The site is reached on foot; the present building is the third on the spot, rebuilt after a fire in 2000 and inaugurated at Midsummer 2001. The medieval church was demolished in 1826, so nothing of the original structure survives above ground.
The 1960 reconstruction reproduced details recorded from the medieval church: a bear's hide served as the mat, the pulpit was carved from a single large log, and a silver bleak hung above the pulpit. These features were recreated in the 2001 rebuilding after the fire.
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