Editing Oppdal Municipality (section)

===Middle Ages===
During the Christian era, Pagan shrines and grave mounds were replaced by churches and chapels. Five rural churches were built in Oppdal at the time, in Vang, Ålbu, Lønset, Lo, and Nordskogen. The [[Oppdal Church]], built to replace an earlier [[stave church]] in 1653, stands to this day.<ref name="welle-strand" />

Oppdal was a stop for pilgrims on their way to the [[Olaf II of Norway|St. Olav]] shrine at the [[Nidaros Cathedral]] in [[Trondheim (city)|Trondheim]] during the [[Middle Ages]]. As a result of the heavy stream of pilgrims who followed the [[Pilgrim's Route]] prior to the [[Protestant Reformation|Reformation]], King [[Eystein I of Norway|Eystein]] erected mountain stations where the pilgrims could find food and shelter. [[Kongsvoll]], located on the [[Driva]] River along the route where pilgrims passed from the [[Gudbrandsdal]] valley into Oppdal was one of these stations, and is still an inn today. Drivstua, further north, was another.<ref name="welle-strand" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Stagg |first=Frank Noel |url=https://archive.org/details/heartofnorway0000unse |title=The Heart of Norway |publisher=George Allen & Unwin, Ltd. |year=1953 |url-access=registration}}</ref>

Oppdal was particularly affected by the [[Black Plague]], which led to the abandonment of a number of farms. With a worsening of the climate, the community hadn't recovered 170 years later, and there were only 35 farms and 350 people left. Only one church at Vang was still in use. As late as 1742, people in Oppdal died of hunger.