Flåm Church sits about 3 kilometres up the valley from the harbour - not where most visitors expect. It's a small wooden church from 1670, built to replace an earlier stave church on the same site.
What makes it unusual is the interior decoration. The walls were painted sometime between 1681 and 1700 with naive-style images of deciduous trees and animals: Deer, foxes, even lions. No other Norwegian church has anything quite like it. The paintings were covered with whitewash for centuries and only rediscovered during restoration.
There's also a medieval knight's robe from Venice, dating to around 1300, which was used as an altar cloth. It's the only one of its kind found in Norway.
The church isn't always open, but if passing on a summer day it's worth checking. It's a genuine piece of Flåm's history, far removed from the tourist hub by the harbour.
