Stiklestad church

Stiklestad Church is a stone church from around 1150 – 1200. According to tradition, the church was built over the altar which is believed to be the place where Olav Haraldsson fell during the battle on 29 July in 1030.

In the years 1927 – 1930, the church was heavily restored to appear as beautiful as possible for Olav's jubilee in 1930. The external plaster was removed so that the church went from being white to the expression it has today. A new armory was built on the west side and the tower was changed. Inside, the choir was decorated with the fresco "The Sword and the Lily" by the artist Alf Rolfsen.

During the restoration, a number of frescoes from the 14th-1500th centuries were uncovered on the nave's long walls. On the south wall are two painted coats of arms, one of which is the national coat of arms. The other contains several Nordic national coats of arms and thus points to one of the union kings.

The nave is also adorned by richly decorated chest panels painted by Barach Bogarth in 1688. These are based on the story from the New Testament and show episodes from the life of Jesus. In addition, the old altarpiece from 1655 is in the armory.

In the ceiling of the chancel we find a cross vault with soapstone ribs. The ribs rest on wall-fixed columns with folding capitals. This vault is unique in rural Norway and testifies to a connection to Nidaros Cathedral where the two chapels in the transept have similar vaults. When such a special and expensive vault was built at Stiklestad, there can be no other explanation than the tradition that this is the place where Saint Olav fell.

Of the medieval interior, only the richly decorated baptismal font has been preserved. It probably dates from the 1300th century and is the only preserved inventory from the church's early period.

On the outside, however, there are several medieval decorative elements. The old priest's entrance on the south side is surrounded by a portal, and there we find style elements that belong to the Anglo-Norman style as it was developed in England at the end of the 1000th century. By one of the windows on the north side of the church, there is a sculpture that has attracted interest. It is a "woman" who squats and lifts up her skirt, revealing her gender. This Sheela na gig figure can be found in some churches elsewhere in Trøndelag, and the figure is quite common in England, Ireland and northern France. Sheela na gig may have symbolized both fertility and protection against evil forces. If so, she is an example of people taking pre-Christian ideas with them when they built churches.

In the church, there is a stone behind the altar which, according to tradition, is said to be the stone against which Olav lay or leaned at the moment of death.