Kyrkjebø Church ( no, Kyrkjebø kyrkje) is a

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

of the Church of Norway in

Høyanger Municipality Høyanger () is a municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Sogn. The administrative center is the village of Høyanger. Other villages in Høyanger municipality include Austreim, Bjordal, Kyrkjebø ...

Vestland Vestland is a county in Norway established on 1 January 2020. The county is located in Western Norway and it is centred around the city of Bergen, Norway's second largest city. The administrative centre of the county is the city of Bergen, where t ...

county,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

. It is located in the village of

Kyrkjebø Kyrkjebø is a former municipality in the old Sogn og Fjordane county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1858 until 1964 when it became part of the new municipality of Høyanger which still exists and is part of the new Vestland county. Pr ...

. It is the church for the Kyrkjebø

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one o ...

which is part of the

Sunnfjord prosti Sunnfjord ( en, the southern fjord - in contrast to Nordfjord) is a traditional district in Western Norway located in Vestland county. It includes the municipalities of Askvoll, Fjaler, the southernmost parts of Kinn, Sunnfjord, and the southern ...

( deanery) in the Diocese of Bjørgvin. The wooden church was built in a long church design in 1869 using plans drawn up by the

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

Christian Christie Eilert Christian Brodtkorb Christie (24 December 1832 – 13 September 1906) was a Norwegian architect. Personal life He was born in Bergen as a son of customs officer Werner Hosewinckel Christie (1785–1872) and Hansine Langsted (1802–1864) ...

, who based his designs on the old

stave church A stave church is a medieval wooden Christian church building once common in north-western Europe. The name derives from the building's structure of post and lintel construction, a type of timber framing where the load-bearing ore-pine posts ar ...

es in Norway. The church is a three-

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica is a large public building with multiple functions, typically built alongside the town's Forum (Roman), forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek East. The building ...

church which seats about 500 people.

Design

The Kyrkjebø Church's architecture is based on the classical lines and derives from

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

cathedral designs. This design was as much the result of architectural choice as of the technical requirements for building churches that emerged during the 19th century. The improvement in technology and crafting techniques at the turn of the century had led to churches adopting a lighter form and employing elaborate detailing.

History

The earliest existing historical records of the church date back to the year 1331, but it was not new that year. The first church here was likely a wooden

and it was located in the nearby village of

Austreim Austreim is a village in the municipality of Høyanger in Vestland county, Norway. The village is located on the north shore of the Sognefjorden, about southwest of the municipal center of Høyanger, about east of the village of Kyrkjebø, and ...

, about east of the present location of the church. Around the year 1590, the church was torn down and a new church was built in the village of Kyrkjebø, about east of the present site of the church. The church had been known as Austreim Church (''Østreim kirke''), but some time after the move, it became known by its new location, ''Kirkebø kirke''. In 1670, the church was enlarged to the north side by adding a

transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform ("cross-shaped") building wi ...

to create a partial

cruciform Cruciform is a term for physical manifestations resembling a common cross or Christian cross. The label can be extended to architectural shapes, biology, art, and design. Cruciform architectural plan Christian churches are commonly describe ...

design. An inspection from 1673 stated that the main

measured about and the northern transept measured about . The

choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which sp ...

was located east of the nave. There was a small

church porch A church porch is a room-like structure at a church's main entrance. A porch protects from the weather to some extent. Some porches have an outer door, others a simple gate, and in some cases the outer opening is not closed in any way. The porch ...

with a tower on the west end of the nave. In 1869, a new church building was constructed about west of the old church. The building was designed by

and the lead builder was John Alver. The church was inspired by the historic

es in Norway. The new church was consecrated on 7 October 1869. After the new church was completed, the old church was torn down. In 1920, a new roof was installed. In 1957, the church was renovated to better insulate the building. New wall panelling, new ceiling, and new floors were all installed. In 1966, the church was wired for electricity. In 1967, the tower was significantly repaired. In 1986–1987, a small extension on the north side was torn down and replaced with a larger one that houses a bathroom and other storage rooms.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kyrkjebo Church Høyanger Churches in Vestland Long churches in Norway Wooden churches in Norway 19th-century Church of Norway church buildings Churches completed in 1869 12th-century establishments in Norway

Design

History

See also

References