Demolition decisions
When the new church in Vik was inaugurated in 1878, it was decided that the stave church should be demolished. The church was in poor condition, and the church noise demanded money for the new church. The early memory association in Bergen knew about the church and wanted to buy it, but the price, NOK 1200, was too high for them. After many negotiations, the unions bought the actual church skeleton for NOK 600 in 1880 after all the buildings were demolished.
Peter Andreas Blix (1831-1901) was a well known architect and engineer who lived in Bergen. He had been in charge of the restoration of the Håkonshallen and the Cathedral. Blix had come to Vik in 1881 to see the Hove church he had purchased. He was then upset to see what constitution the stave church was in. Not the rural people or the Fortress Memorial Association wanted or could take care of the church. Blix then offered to rent the restoration of the stake church for free. He have a large sum of money to take advantage of. This offer where accepted.
Investigations
In the years 1885-91 Blix underwent extensive research, and the stave church was thoroughly surveyed. The restoration work was thus based on solid work. It has not happened before that one and the same man has rented the restoration of two churches in the same village, for their own account and according to their ownplans and drawings. Blix's uncompromising goal was to rebuild the church as it was originally.
Restoration
Blix remove inventory and reconditioning from a later date and store the items in a storehouse north of the cemetery. The only thing he could easily say was a canopy (a little roof over satue, altars). The nuclear building, the ship and the choir, do not be changed by Blix. But the apse (the room behind the altar), all the swallow aisles and the shingled roof with roof rails were new. The church had three portals, to the west, south and north, all adorned with carvings. The West Portal belongs to the finest in Norwegian woodcut from the middle Ages. All changes were subject to scrutiny or to drivers from other stake churches.
An older stave church
The stave church that stands at Hopperstad no was hardly the first to stand there. Mostly has there stood an older stave church in the same city. When Blix examined the church, he found the remains of a stave church with a woodcut. The church has probably been built in the second half of the 11th century.
Fixtures
The splendor of the interior is the altar canopy or ciborium, which is shaped like a small building with a canopy over a ceiling. The ceiling is painted with scenes from Jesus' childhood. There are many rune inscriptions and carvings on the walls. Most rune inscriptions are pious desires such as "The Lord help the man who draws these runes ..". The carvings, the medieval graffiti, have many motifs, most human and animal, but also fish, boats, boomerang and symbol.
Copy in the United States
In 1998, a copy of the Hopperstad Stave Church in Moorhead, Minnesota, was inaugurated. More than 100 people from Vik and elsewhere in Sogn traveled to the United States and attended the inauguration.
