The Ryggja church
The stave church at Rygg had a fine location above Aurlandsvangen with a commanding view of the fjord. A memorial stone has been erected at the site. We do not have any knowledge as to what the stave church may have looked like, apart from the fact that it was small. Nevertheless, it could have been an elegant church.
Jon Pettersson (Jon Fot) of the mighty Aurland family may have built the church. In 1129 he married Ingrid Kollsdotter from Agder. They had a son, Brynjulv, and they wanted to baptize the boy. They must have lived north of the river where there was no church. Many churches were built in this period, and Jon could therefore have had the church erected about 1130. There is no reference in written records of the church until 1322.
The church site
Bishop Neumann visited Aurland in 1834 and wrote down some facts about the church. The 1902 yearbook for the Society for the Preservation of Norwegian Ancient Monuments quotes the following facts from his report:
"Remnants of the foundation wall with three of the cornerstones are clearly seen. The chancel was located in the innermost part of the church with the western gable to the side. As far as I can see, the width of the chancel must have been 4.3 metres and that of the nave 4.7 metres. - - According to my measures, the chancel cannot have been longer than five metres and the nave 6.15 metres. - - The church must obviously have been quite small."
There is a "prayer stone" on the church site. Legend has it that the few survivors of the Black Death gathered to pray at this stone.
The stave church at Rygg was torn down in 1576, whereas the churchyard was in use until 1806..