Harstad's Trondenes Church and the Bel Chorus Concert

On July 8th our port of call was Harstad.  I have to say that I have missed out a lot on this trip because my back has been extremely painful and has limited much of what I'd planned to do.  I had an acupuncture treatment which made it worse - so bad I could barely move so, my apologies for the lack of blogs.  It has been a frustrating holiday.  However, I managed to do today's tour.  

Trondenes Church, within walking distance from Harstad, is the northernmost medieval stone church of Norway and the world's northernmost surviving medieval building.  It is one of the country’s largest country churches from this period and has reflected in the waters of Vågsfjord for 600 years.  The drive to the church was very scenic. 







The interior is among the absolute richest, with treasures in the Gothic and Rococo styles.  The church is exceptionally well preserved and has remained completely unchanged.  Infinitely beautiful, it stands near the fjord, with wide views of the sea, mountains and islands.







Following our visit to the church we walked to the nearby museum which also has an “open air museum” featuring a farmhouse and surrounding area dating from the 1600s.  While we were there, there was a demonstration of medieval soap making which involved boiling juniper branches in a pot over an open fire.  We also had time in the museum which included seeing a movie of the church's history.  Following that, we were taken back to the ship.









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