We toured the Bergen and Stavanger areas of Norway last week and on the way back to Oslo stopped to see this 12th or 13th century church, the Heddal Stave Church. The church was built around 1200 A.D., seats 180 persons and is still used for services. The name "stave church" refers to the upright wooden poles that support the church which is made entirely of wood. The dark color is the result of applications of tar that are used to preserve the wood. There are only 28 of these churches remaining in Norway. We visited one other of these churches but it had been rebuilt after being destroyed by an arsonist.