Grip Stave Church

The church was built in around the year 1470 at the island's highest point, about above sea level. The church is a Møre type stave church, being structurally similar to the larger Kvernes and Rødven stave churches. Because of the barren nature of the island, there is no cemetery on the church grounds, and bodies had to be buried elsewhere, such as in the cemetery of Bremsnes Church, over away over open sea. In 1621, the church underwent major modifications when portions of the walls were rebuilt and a flèche was added. In 1814, this church served as an election church (). Together with more than 300 other parish churches across Norway, it was a polling station for elections to the 1814 Norwegian Constituent Assembly which wrote the Constitution of Norway. This was Norway's first national elections. Each church parish was a constituency that elected people called "electors" who later met together in each county to elect the representatives for the assembly that was to meet at Eidsvoll Manor later that year. New windows were installed in the 1870s, and at the same time both a weaponhouse and a sacristy were added. During restoration work in 1933 led by John Tverdahl, a new foundation was added and the exterior walls were panelled. Today, most of the walls and roof are still original to the stave church. A 1972 proposal to relocate the church did not materialize. In 2007, the roof and spire were restored and some of the paneling was replaced. ==Interior==

Altar The altar is a triptych from Utrecht in the Netherlands, dated to about 1520, with a central sculpture of the Blessed Virgin Mary, flanked by sculptures of Saint Olaf of Norway and Saint Margaret the Virgin, locally known as St. Maret. According to legend, the triptych is one of five altars donated to Norwegian churches by princess Isabella of Austria after being escorted by Erik Valkendorf, Archbishop of Norway, in terrible weather en route to her wedding in Copenhagen with the Danish king Christian II in 1515. Other altars were donated to Kinn Church, Leka Church, Hadsel Church, and Røst Church. The five altars are referred to by art historians as the Leka group. Four of the altars have survived intact to this day, but Grip has the only complete altar in the original church. Despite having sculptures of three saints, the altar survived the Protestant Reformation of Norway in 1537. The altar was restored in 2002. Organ A new pipe organ from the Netherlands with 270 wooden pipes was donated in 2006, which due to humid weather conditions will only be installed in the church during the summer season. The rest of the year, the organ is in use in Kirkelandet Church. Art The church also has a small altar cup from 1320, a 16th-century double-sided painting on canvas, murals from the 1621 modifications, and two votive ships. ==Gallery==

Altar-Grip-Stave-church-Norway.jpg| Altar with triptych and the hull of a votive ship Grip-Stave-church-Norway.jpg |View of the church and surroundings Grip_stavkyrkje_kyrkjeskip.jpg|The nave and second votive ship seen from the altar ==See also==