Sylte church
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According to legend, Sylte was once a church site, chosen for its easy accessibility by boat along the coast and fjords. In 1679, a massive avalanche hit the area, causing the river Valldøla to dam up and flood the village of Sylte, which was destroyed. The old church and graveyard were washed away by the sea during the flood, and any traces of them have since disappeared. The medieval cross that Saint Olav is said to have erected near the fjord has also been lost to time. In 1851, a new law was passed in Norway that required churches to accommodate three-quarters of the congregation, leading to the construction of over 600 new churches in the latter half of the 19th century. Sylte Church is one of these new churches, built in 1863 as a wooden long church that faces east to west. The architect of the church is unclear, but the builder was Gjert Lien from Nordfjord, and the timber used for construction was harvested from Selboskar in Fjørå. The altar in the church is a large stone slab from the old Døving chapel, which dates back to Catholic times. The altar painting depicts Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane just before his arrest, while the church bell was cast by John Warnes & Sons in London in 1866. The church was restored in 2000.