Kvernes stave church sits on Averøy, a short drive from the Atlantic Road. For a long time it was dated to the late 1300s, but dendrochronological research in 2020 showed the timber was felled in 1633, making it the only stave church in Norway built after the Middle Ages. Why anyone constructed a medieval-style church 150 years after the Reformation remains an open question.
The church is a single-nave Møre-type, characterised by central posts in the external walls and crossbeams. It measures just 16 by 7.5 metres. Inside, the 1475 altarpiece predates the building itself, likely brought from an earlier church on the same site. The painted acanthus decorations and baroque pulpit date from the 1600s.
The larger white parish church next door was built in 1893 and is still in regular use. Both churches share the same hilltop churchyard with views over Kvernesfjorden.
Open for guided tours in summer. Kvernes is about 30 minutes from Kristiansund by car and close to the Atlantic Road.
The church is a single-nave Møre-type, characterised by central posts in the external walls and crossbeams. It measures just 16 by 7.5 metres. Inside, the 1475 altarpiece predates the building itself, likely brought from an earlier church on the same site. The painted acanthus decorations and baroque pulpit date from the 1600s.
The larger white parish church next door was built in 1893 and is still in regular use. Both churches share the same hilltop churchyard with views over Kvernesfjorden.
Open for guided tours in summer. Kvernes is about 30 minutes from Kristiansund by car and close to the Atlantic Road.