Skaun Church

The 800th anniversary of Skaun Church was celebrated in 1982. The church was completed sometime in the early 1180s and was from the beginning a parish church, probably dedicated to St. Olav. In the Middle Ages, the church was called "Vinjar kirkju".

It is likely the stonemasons who worked on the octagon in Nidaros Cathedral who also built Skaun Church. The fact that we find the same stonecutter signatures in both places indicates this. It is not inconceivable that Archbishop Eystein (1120-1188) was the initiator of the construction of Skaun church. He was a great church builder and he was from Rotvoll Farm in Børsa, the next village down by the fjord. It is also likely that he was the author of the book Passio Olavi - the stories about all the miracles that happened at Olavi's grave in Nidaros.