Why pilgrims come
Discover what makes St. Thomas Church and the Valdres Pilgrim Way a place of pilgrimage
The goal of a revived approximately 160-kilometer pilgrimage across Valdres to the traditional site of a medieval church associated with St. Thomas Becket; the original church was demolished in 1808 and the present church was consecrated in 1971.
Walk this as a revived route to a remembered sacred place. The destination is meaningful precisely because the medieval church was lost and pilgrimage was later renewed; the modern building must never be presented as the original stave church.
The sacred connection
People and objects remembered here
These relationships are part of the destination record, with feast days and catalog qualifications shown where available.
Traditional patron of the medieval mountain pilgrimage church and the revived Valdres route
Feast: December 29What to notice
Look closely at the place and its story
Modern church at the medieval goal
Mark the continuity of place while keeping the 1971 reconstruction explicit.
Valdres pilgrim way
Follow the renewed church-to-church route through the valleys and mountain pass.
St. Thomas memory
Explore how devotion to the Canterbury martyr reached the Norwegian mountains.
Feasts, anniversaries & celebrations
How to read this page
Sources, tradition, and what is verified
No verification date is listed, so current visitor details should be confirmed directly.
This page records the site’s tradition as “Shared Christian.” That wording describes the nature of the claim and keeps devotional tradition distinct from independently verified history.