We’d already briefly passed onto and under the island of Giske on the way to Godøya and the Alnes Lighthouse on this short cruise excursion, but on the way back to Sky Princess docked at Ålesund we stopped properly on Giske to take a look at its church.
The photograph below is not Giske Church. What can I say? I like interesting looking buildings, even if they’re silos or warehouses or agricultural constructions or bus shelters or sheds. And I also like people on excursions looking at me as if I’ve grown a new head when I stroll away from the group to take pictures of things they almost certainly consider dull. Confusing people is my thing.
Giske Church dates from the twelfth century and is built from white marble – the only Norwegian church built from marble – of unknown origin. I know what you’re thinking: aliens! But that would be silly. All the trolls kill any aliens that approach Norway. Everyone knows that. All that can be said for certain is that the marble was transported to the island over water because the bridge and tunnel that connects it to its neighbours now are far more modern constructions, and that suggests that the people who built the church had considerable wealth. In fact, it was built for the Giske (or Arneson) family, and was originally a family chapel. The island of Giske and the Arneson family feature in the Norwegian Sagas, and a birth in the family recounted in Stein’s Story in the Saga of Olaf Haraldson would be that of the progenitor of the Norwegian Royal Family.
The white marble of Giske Church isn’t immediately obvious thanks to a covering of plaster and chalk that clearly doesn’t protect it from wear, given the relative hardness of marble and chalk, but perhaps discourages anyone from thinking “Ooh, white marble, that’ll look nice in the downstairs loo!” I think the worst of people.
The interior of the church contains an impressive range of colourful, wooden carvings, feeling very medieval in their look but actually dating from a little later, carved by Jakob Sørensøn Giskegaard in the late eighteenth century when a series of renovations were undertaken after a long period of neglect.
The church and cemetery are still in use these days, and the gravestones are worth a look around if you visit Giske. A protected marble grave in the cemetery holds one of a pair of doomed lovers from a local story that the guide there will be only too willing to share with you. And if you think that’s a way of me saying I can’t quite recall the specifics of the tale then you’re absolutely right. But look, head to new places, spend some money locally, learn some things. That’s what travelling should be all about.
We had a little bit of spare time after our visit inside Giske Church to enjoy the surroundings before our bus returned to pick us up. With the church located on the southern point of the island we had some pleasing views to Godøya where we’d been earlier in the day, helped by the beautiful weather.
This concludes a very short but enjoyable enough excursion on our Sky Princess cruise, and in the next part in this cruise travelogue series we’ll be dropped off to explore Ålesund on our own.