The Borgund Stave Church In Winter. Stock Photo

Borgund Stave Church is a former parish church of the Church of Norway in Lærdal Municipality in Vestland county. It was built around the year 1200 as the village church of Borgund. The church was restored, conserved and turned into a museum. It is funded and run by the Society for the Preservation of Ancient Norwegian Monuments, and is classified as a triple-nave stave church of the Sogn-type. Its grounds contain Norway's sole surviving stave-built free-standing bell tower. The exterior timber surfaces are darkened by protective layers of tar, distilled from pine.