Borgund Stave Church by Tnarik Innael licensed under the terms of the CC BY-SA 2.0
This week’s crazy building is Borgund Stave Church in Borgund, Norway.
The first crazy thing to note about this church is when it was constructed: around 1200 AD, making it 800 years old or more. Given that it’s made up completely of wood, it’s remarkable that it’s managed to remained standing (and never caught fire!) all this time. This makes it one of the oldest wooden churches on earth.
Its impressive towering design has served as an inspiration for centuries. It was a model for three other churches: in 1883, in 1908, and in 1969 an exact replica was constructed in (of all places) South Dakota.
Nowadays, it is seldom used for religious functions. It was bought by a historical society way back in 1877! It is now used as a museum instead.
