Arvaldsnes Kirk.

I have been in the habit, this week, of arising early to photograph the scenes as we sale up the fjord to our port. This Kirk, dedicated to Saint Olaf, caught my eye although I didn't realise that it would be one of the destinations of the day's outing.

It was planned in 1250 AD and building completed in 1320 and, since then, has been a landmark for local mariners. It is thought to have replaced an earlier wooden church. Over the years it fell into decay so had a wooden church built inside before restoration work started in 1830, final restoration in the original style was completed in the 1920s. During WWII the Germans wanted to demolish the building as it could be used for navigation by the allies but the locals persuaded them that camouflaging it would be a suitable alternative, it was a task that was to have taken five weeks but, in true builders' fashion, over-ran estimates by a year.

The excessively ornate pulpit complete with a dove hovering over the priest's head is today's extra and dates from 1920, it probably indicates that Catholicism is practiced here though most of the churches in the area are Lutheran.