The Valdres road
An important pilgrim destination in the Middle Ages was St. Thomas church on File Mountain, where the Valdres road starts from Hedalen stave church in South Valdres, and onwards via five stave churches, four Olav heritages, three stone churches and two reliquiaries and many cultural heritages in "Norway's flower–valley"
People came from all over Southern Norway bringing gifts to regain their health in St. Thomas church which had miraculous powers.
The road is 163 km long and you can walk it in the course of a week. Along paths, forestry tracks, and village roads in lovely nature and stunning cultural landscapes.
The western wind blew through Valdres when the legend of Sunniva at Selje came across the mountain, when the bishop of Swithuns church in Stavanger was our bishop, and when Thomas of Canterbury became a guardian saint of File Mountain. The Celtic spiritual tradition of the sanctifying of nature was a driving force in the christianisation of Valdres, and lived onwards here.
