Borgund has become famous as the Norwegian stave church par excellence and for that reason has also been used to symbolise Norway in many contexts – from T-shirts and mugs to postage stamps and banknotes. The church site shows evidence of a previous building, which can point to an earlier church or perhaps an old pagan temple that had been taken into use as a church. The interior of the church, except for the pulpit and the altarpiece, is mainly free from the post-Reformation decorations seen in most other stave churches. An authentic medieval square shaped baptismal font made of soapstone is still a part of the interior. Only 28 of these churches remain today.

The single nave church has a square nave and a narrower square choir. This type of stave church was common at the beginning of the 12th century. Church, (Langkirke), has a rectangular plan with nave and choir of the same width. The nave will usually take up two thirds of the whole length. This type was common at the end of 13th century. Center post church, (Midtmastkirke) has a single central post reaching all the way up and connected with the roof construction. But the roof is a simple hipped one, without the raised central part of the Type B churches. This variation on the common type of church in Numedal and Hallingdal, dated to around 1200.

Laerdal in Sogn. Built just before 1150, and dedicated to the Apostle St. Andrew. It is one of the best preserved stave churches and it has not been added or rebuilt since it was new. The pulpit is from the last period of the 1500’s. The altar-piece is from 1620.
Norway is in fact the only country in northern Europe with wooden churches from the Middle Ages still intact. Urnes is the oldest of them. It was built early in the 1100’s and is on UNESCO World Heritage List. The stave church at Heddal is the largest, though the one at Borgund is probably the most widely visited and photographed. Each stave church has its own charm and atmosphere. Though a stave church can seem simple on the outside, the inside reveals surprising richness of ornamentation.