Mære Church () is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Steinkjer municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is located in the village of Mære. It is the church for the Mære parish which is part of the Stiklestad prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Nidaros of the Church of Norway. The white, plastered stone church was built in a long church style during the 12th century using plans drawn up by an unknown architect. The church seats about 310 people. History Pre-Christianity Mærehaugen is the name of the place where the church is located. Before the mid-1100s when the church was built, Mærehaugen was a pagan centre of worship. During the 10th century, Mære was a central estate for the Trøndelag region. This may possibly be the site referred to in the medieval Icelandic Landnámabók in chapter 297. The floor of the church was excavated in 1969 and found to contain the remains of a pagan cult structure. Hans Emil Lidén felt this represented the remains of a building, but a critique by Olsen in the same work suggested this may have been a site for pole worship. A recent review of the evidence by Walaker Norddide concluded that this site was similar to the site in Hove (Åsen, also in Trøndelag) and was therefore likely the site of a ceremonial pole. As a Christian place of worship During the 11th century, Christianity came to Norway. A new Christian church was built at Mære on this old pagan worship site. The first church here was a small, wooden stave church. The nave was rectangular and there was a narrower choir with a lower roof line. The nave measured approximately and the choir measured about . This church was in use from the 11th century until the late-12th century when it was too small for the parish. Around 1150, it was decided to build a new stone church on the same site. Over the next half-century, the church was constructed on that site. First, a choir was built surrounding the old wooden church, and when that was completed, the old wooden church was torn down. The rest of the stone church was then constructed. Medieval history The earliest existing historical records of the new stone church date back to the year 1277, but the church was not new that year. A crucifix in the church has been dated