The 7 Best Sacred & Religious Sites in Rogaland, Western Norway

The church' mediaeval section dates back to around the year 1250. Originally a rectangular, long church with a nave and chancel of same widths. The oldest section has four corners made of steatite, a lavishly ornamented west portal, a Christening font and Communion table all made of steatite. On 13 November 1991 the church was razed to the ground, but it was rebuilt and consecrated again on 5 June 1995.

Utstein Monastery is Norway's only well-preserved medieval monastery. The buildings were originally intended as a royal residence, but an Augustinian monastery was founded there in around 1265. After the reformation in 1537, the monastery and its property were returned to the crown, and it subsequently came into private ownership. The property has been in public ownership since 1935. Today, it is run as a museum and conference centre. Concerts are also held there. The cultural landscape around the monastery is protected by law.

Naerbo church was completed in 2005, designed by architect Gunnar Fossen. It is decorated by one of Norway's foremost artists, Gunnar Torvund. Christian symbols, such as the fish and lamb, are embedded into the floor itself. At the front of the spacious church stands Torvund's striking altarpiece. Three intense blue slabs, and a lush garden that echoes the ornamentation of Norwegian folk art, rise from a rock dug up from Jaeren. Suspended above are symbols, some Christian, others universal - and in their midst hangs a Christ figure. Light pours in through a window behind and above the towering altarpiece, completing it as though it were a heavenly ladder.

According to tradition the cathedral was built in the year 1125, after Sigurd Jorsalfarer named Stavanger as a cathedral city. Bishop Reinald of Winchester was responsible for its construction. The church was built in Anglo-Norman style, probably by English craftsmen. The church' patron saint is St. Svithun, and it is reputed that his arm was one of the church' original relics. In 1272 the cathedral was damaged by fire, after which it received a new chancel built in the Gothic style. Stavanger Cathedral is the only Norwegian cathedral from the Middle Ages that has retained its original appearance and been in constant use. Opening hours: Mon-Sun 11am-7pm, June-Aug. Tue-Thurs and Sat 11am-4pm, Sept-May, closed Mon and Fri. High Mass every Sunday at 11am. Morning Mass in the Bishop's Chapel every Wednesday at 8am Thursdays 11.15-11.45. Thursday Mass.