Museums and Culture

Welcome to Bykle church,  a small church historical jewel from 1620.

The current church  was built around 1620, and is then the oldest church in Setesdal.

The church has a small porch, nave and chancel, but lacks a sacristy. The church is one of the smallest in the country, only 11 meters long.

One of the things that makes the church so unique is the  rose paint from 1826 . It was Aslak A. Vasshus from Rauland who was behind the measurement, and with him was Knut Åvoldsson Byklum from Bykle. The baptismal font is made of wood and shaped like an hourglass, dated to approx. 1600. The bronze baptismal font is from the first half of the 17th century. There are nine benches on the men’s side (south) and seven and a half on the women’s side (north). The distance between the rows is 74 cm on the male side and 65 cm on the female side. You do not have to be particularly big to have trouble placing your feet!

Only in 1989 did Bykle church receive an organ, built by the Swede Nils-Oluf Berg and designed by Ulf Oldaeus, a pipe organ with a manual and five voices.

Bishop Olav Skjævesland laid the foundation stone for Bykle’s new church on January 1, 2000. Drawings made by primary school students in the municipality were placed inside the stone. At the same time, it was decided that the church would be the millennium building for Bykle municipality. 

Due to doubling the population from the 1960s, the old church became too small and it had been discovered that the rose paintings were being destroyed due to the electric heating which made the air very dry. The National Heritage Board pressed to ensure that the church was not used as much, first and foremost in the winter. Bykle new kike is strongly influenced by modern art.

The church room with the gallery has a total of 220 seats. This room has an unusually clean and nice acoustics. Musicians have stated that it is the best concert venue in the whole of Setesdal.

Lislestog is an open-air museum located just above Bykle church. The museum is a collection of various old buildings from Setesdal, and tells about building customs and lifestyles in pre-industrial times. In a pleasant peasant romantic environment you can take a break along the way.

For celebrating christenings, confirmations, weddings or other anniversaries in a peasant romantic environment. Flatelandsstoga can be rented as a function room and has space for serving up to approx. 30 people in two living rooms.

There is a well-equipped kitchen with crockery, cooking facilities and a large dishwasher. The house originally stood in Oveinang, north of Valle, and was moved to Lislestog in Bykle in 1966.

Stoga is suitable for many kinds of celebrations, but does not have a dance floor and is best suited for sitting at a table. Outside there is an idyllic rural environment with old buildings. Vis a vis are the churches in Bykle, both the old and the new. 

Flatelandsstoga is owned by a foundation and rental is administered by Bykle municipality. Therefore contact Bykle municipality for information and inquiries about rent.

For order call +47 37938500

Setesdal was seen by many as a kind of prehistoric piece of Norway. Customs and traditions were part of the Norwegian national heritage, and people came here to experience a bygone era.

Two of these were the actor Tore Segelcke and her husband Anton Raabe. During a good decade after the end of the war, they built a very small village yard on the slopes above Bykle church. They were there every summer and cultivated the romance of the old buildings.

The facility has now been restored, the houses have been redecorated, and the museum welcomes you to a somewhat different village garden.

For more info, contact Setesdalsmuseet on tel. +47 37936303

In the municipal council hall in Bykle Town Hall, a painting by the well-known artist Reidar Fritzvold is on display. The paintings show the landscape and environment in Bykle before the major power development began. 

The paintings are available during the town hall’s opening hours, and when there is no meeting activity in the various rooms where the paintings are exhibited. 

When visiting, contact the information desk

Bykle town hall, Bykle Tel. +47 37938500

In the restaurant at Bykle Hotell, paintings by the artist Tove Hertzberg are on display.  

The paintings show mountain landscapes with wild reindeer and are a collaboration with Fjellreinskulen.no

The paintings are available during the hotel’s opening hours.