Åmot Church () is a

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), 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 com ...

of the

Church of Norway The Church of Norway (, , , ) is an Lutheranism, evangelical Lutheran denomination of Protestant Christianity and by far the largest Christian church in Norway. Christianity became the state religion of Norway around 1020, and was established a ...

Nordre Land Municipality Nordre Land is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Land. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Dokka. Other villages in the municipality include Vest-Torpa, Nord-To ...

Innlandet Innlandet is a Counties of Norway, county in Norway. It was created on 1 January 2020 with the merger of the old counties of Oppland and Hedmark (Jevnaker Municipality and Lunner Municipality were transferred to the neighboring county of Viken ( ...

county,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. It is located in the village of Fagerlund. It is one of the churches for the Torpa

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

which is part of the

Hadeland og Land prosti The list of churches in Hamar is a list of the Church of Norway churches in the Diocese of Hamar in Norway. It includes all of the parishes in Innlandet county plus the parishes in Lunner Municipality in Akershus county. The diocese is based at th ...

(

deanery A deanery (or decanate) is an ecclesiastical entity in the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Anglican Communion, the Evangelical Church in Germany, and the Church of Norway. A deanery is either the jurisdiction or residence of ...

) in the

Diocese of Hamar The Diocese of Hamar () is a diocese within the Church of Norway. The Diocese of Hamar includes all of the churches in Innlandet county plus the churches in Lunner Municipality in Akershus county. Administratively, the diocese is divided into 1 ...

. The white, wooden church was built in a

octagonal In geometry, an octagon () is an eight-sided polygon or 8-gon. A '' regular octagon'' has Schläfli symbol and can also be constructed as a quasiregular truncated square, t, which alternates two types of edges. A truncated octagon, t is a hex ...

design in 1823 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 ...

Abraham Pihl Abraham Pihl (3 October 1756 – 20 May 1821) was a Norwegian clergyman, astronomer, and architect. Biography Abraham Pihl was born in Gausdal, Oppland County Municipality, Oppland County, Norway. He completed seminary at the University of ...

. The church seats about 700 people.

History

Historically, people in the Torpa and

Dokka Dokka is the administrative centre of Nordre Land Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. The village is located at the confluence of the rivers Dokka and Etna, about north of the lake Randsfjorden, the fourth largest lake in Norway. The v ...

areas had several churches scattered over the fairly rural parts of

Nordre Land Nordre Land is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Land. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Dokka. Other villages in the municipality include Vest-Torpa, Nord-T ...

. In 1817, plans were made to build a new church at Fagerlund, in northern Torpa. The new church was to be built in a more central location and it was going to be a large church to accommodate all the local people (which is why it is surprisingly large--seating 700 people--despite being located in a fairly rural area). After the new church was completed, the plan called for demolishing the old

Kinn Church Kinn Church () is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Kinn Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is located on the small island of Kinn. It is one of two churches for the Kinn parish which is part of the Sunnfjord prosti (deanery) in ...

in eastern Torpa and the old Lunde Church in western Torpa. This would essentially close two churches and open one new, larger church. Kinn Church was torn down, but Lunde Church was not, but it was no longer maintained and the parish only held services there twice a year.

was hired to design the new wooden

building which was modeled off the nearby Vang Church.

Svend Aspaas Svend Halvorsen Aspaas (1736–January 1816) was a Norwegian architect and builder who is known for several of the churches he built. He was also a master builder for the Røros Copper Works. He is credited as having invented and built a typ ...

was the lead builder. The new church was named Åmot Church and it was built in 1823 and

consecrated Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects (a ...

the same year. The church has a large main floor with lots of seating plus second and third floor balconies with more seating. The new church became the main church for Torpa. In the end, Lunde Church was fixed up and remained in use and then in 1956, a new Kinn Church was built to replace the one that was torn down in 1823.

References

{{use dmy dates, date=January 2022 Nordre Land Churches in Innlandet Octagonal churches in Norway Wooden churches in Norway 19th-century Church of Norway church buildings Churches completed in 1823 1823 establishments in Norway

History

See also

References