Category Archives: Marble

The world’s northernmost medieval marble church

Posted on January 27, 2018 by Per Storemyr

The small, Romanesque Gildeskål church is one of the most complete marble churches in Norway. It resides at the magnificent coast along the Atlantic Ocean far up north, in Nordland county. And it is, presumably, the northernmost marble building in the world. Together with Giske church further south, it is part of outstanding, but little known, medieval marble architecture in Norway, of which Nidaros Cathedral, with thousands of marble columns, is the most spectacular example. Continue reading →

Posted in Archaeology, Marble, New publications, Norway, Old quarries | Tagged Cultural heritage, Gildeskål, marble, Middle Ages, North Atlantic, Norway, old quarries, quarry | Leave a comment

Experimental archaeology: Building a “classic”, intermittent limekiln and burning marble at Millstone Park, Hyllestad, Western Norway

Posted on July 13, 2017 by Per Storemyr

It took us about six months: Building a cylindrical limekiln of the classic Roman/Medieval type with local materials only – stone rubble and clay. In June this year, we built the firing chamber and filled the kiln with 2.5 tons of local marble, covered the kiln with clay on a layer of spruce branches and started burning. Five days and five nights with much of the local community involved! Here’s an extended photo story of the project – the first of its kind in Norway. The quicklime (burnt marble) will be tested at Selja medieval monastery and other restoration projects in Norway. Thanks to all paid and volunteers and support from The ruin restoration programme of the Norwegian Directorate for Cultural Heritage, as well as Hyllestad Municipality! The project was carried out by The Norwegian Millstone Centre/The Museums in Sogn og Fjordane County. Continue reading →

Posted in Marble, Monument conservation, New projects, Norway | Tagged experimental archaeology, Hyllestad, kalkbrenning, kalkovn, lime burning, limekiln, marble | 9 Comments

Nidarosdomen: Den viktigste marmorkatedralen nord for Alpene

Posted on August 18, 2015 by Per Storemyr

Visste dere at Nidarosdomen er den viktigste marmorkatedralen nord for alpene? Ikke det? Neivel. Dere tenker vel at domen er en klebersteinskatedral. Og det er jo ikke helt galt, det heller. Men det er bare en del av sannheten. Så … Continue reading →