The Romanesque stone
A plain 12th-century building brought back from ruin.
Vitold Muratov — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Jarvin — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Unknown author — Public domain · HaraldHognerud — CC BY-SA 3.0 no
A coastal strip about seventy kilometres long south of the city, and entirely un-Norwegian in appearance: long sand beaches, dunes and meadows with no mountains and no fjords — closer to Denmark. Its best-known beaches are Orre and Borestranden, destinations for surfing and long walks. Along it are remains of the German Atlantic Wall from the war, lighthouse stations, and Sola church. A full day by car covers it.
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Sola Church is a small stone building of the twelfth century on the sandy coast south-west of Stavanger, and its story is a chain of destruction and rebuilding running eight hundred years. It was built around 1120 and associated with the family of Erling Skakke, one of the most powerful Norwegian nobles of the twelfth century. It was abandoned after the Protestant Reformation and fell into ruin, its stone taken for local building, and then stood as open ruins for centuries. In the 1930s a restoration began with public subscription, but the war stopped it: the Germans occupied the coast, built fortifications and wrecked the area. The restoration was finally completed in 1995 — so the church took sixty years to come back. It is used today for concerts and weddings, and its position on the dunes near the airport makes it entirely quiet. Entry is usually free when it is open.
A plain 12th-century building brought back from ruin.
Sand dunes and complete quiet by the sea.
Sola ruinkyrkje, 4055 Sola