The church was originally built around the year 1150 at
Fortun in
Sogn, a village near the inner or eastern end of
Sognefjord. In 1879, the new
Fortun Church () was constructed as a replacement for the medieval stave church. Fantoft Stave Church was threatened with demolition, as were hundreds of other stave churches in Norway. Fantoft Stave Church was bought by consul
Fredrik Georg Gade and saved by moving it in pieces to Fana near Bergen in 1883. Outside the church stands a stone cross from
Tjora in
Sola Municipality. On 6 June 1992, the church was destroyed by
arson; the first in a string of church burnings by members of the
early Norwegian black metal scene. At first, the fire was thought to have been caused by lightning or an electrical failure. In 1994,
Varg Vikernes of the one-man band
Burzum was found guilty of burning
Old Åsane Church and
Storetveit Church in
Bergen Municipality,
Skjold Church in
Vindafjord Municipality, and
Holmenkollen Chapel in
Oslo Municipality. He was also charged with the burning of Fantoft Stave Church, although the jurors voted not guilty. The judges called this an error but did not overturn the decision. Reconstruction of the church began soon after the fire, taking six years to complete. Since 1997, the church has been surrounded by a security fence. A photograph of the church's burnt shell appeared on the cover of the 1993 Burzum
EP Aske (Norwegian for "ashes"). ==Gallery==