Ullensvang Church

We are now halfway between Aga and Lofthus and you can now see the Ullensvang Church which was built in the 13th century. Many claim that the church was the subject for the iconic national painting “Bridal Procession on the Hardangerfjord”, painted by Tidemann and Gude in 1848. After the Christianisation of Norway in the 12th century, monks began arriving from England and put down roots in many places in Norway. In Lofthus it is said that the Opedal Monastery was where the monks first used their knowledge of growing fruit in England to establish fruit orchards here. The fruit needed to be harvested and transported and at the time there were few roads. The steadfast Monks began to develop paths, roads, and stairs up the high and steep mountains. There are many place names in the area that document this, and in Lofthus the ‘munketrappene’ (monks’ stairs) are a tourist attraction which are a specific example of this. The monks lay 616 stones in a stair formation right up to the top of the mountain of «Nosi». It is not known if they used Hardanger cider as the altar wine in Ullensvang Church, but unlike other church communities who can only use wine made from grapes, protestants can use any wine for communion. Cheers!