Alstadhaug 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 ...

in the village of

Alstadhaug Alstadhaug is small village in Levanger Municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is located northeast of the village of Skogn, south of the village of Nesset, and west of the village of Momarka. The area is also a Church of Norway parish ...

Levanger Municipality Levanger is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Trøndelag Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the district of Innherred. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Levanger (town), town of Levanger. Some o ...

Trøndelag Trøndelag (; or is a county and coextensive with the Trøndelag region (also known as ''Midt-Norge'' or ''Midt-Noreg,'' "Mid-Norway") in the central part of Norway. It was created in 1687, then named Trondhjem County (); in 1804 the county was ...

county. It is the church for the Alstadhaug

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 Stiklestad prosti (

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 Nidaros Nidaros is a diocese in the Lutheran Church of Norway. It covers Trøndelag county in Central Norway and its cathedral city is Trondheim, which houses the well-known Nidaros Cathedral. Since 10 September 2017, the Bishop of Nidaros is Herborg ...

. The church was built in a

long church Church building in Norway began when Christianity in Norway, Christianity was established there around the year 1000. The first buildings may have been post churches erected in the 10th or 11th century, but the evidence is inconclusive. For inst ...

style during the 12th century by an unknown architect. The church seats about 238 people.

History

The earliest existing historical records of the church date back to the year 1280, but the church was likely built during the mid- to late 1100s. It features elements from both Romanesque and Gothic architecture. The church has a rectangular

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 ...

measuring about and a narrower, square

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the Choir (architecture), choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may termi ...

with a lower roof line that measures about . The church building is built of stone with wood ceilings.

Dendrochronology Dendrochronology (or tree-ring dating) is the scientific method of chronological dating, dating tree rings (also called growth rings) to the exact year they were formed in a tree. As well as dating them, this can give data for dendroclimatology, ...

surveys of the roof show the timber dates to the years 1166–67. It is therefore likely that the church was completed around the year 1170. Construction on the church likely began 20 to 30 years before its completion (around 1130–1140). Next to the church is , a large burial mound. Olvishaugen measures across and has a height of almost . It has not been excavated but estimates have dated it from the

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

(5th to 8th centuries AD). The church originally had a large tower on the west end, but in the early 1200s the tower was dismantled and its stone was used to build an octagonal

apse In architecture, an apse (: apses; from Latin , 'arch, vault'; from Ancient Greek , , 'arch'; sometimes written apsis; : apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical Vault (architecture), vault or semi-dome, also known as an ' ...

to enlarge the

choir A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

and two retaining walls along the southwest corner of the nave. A

sacristy A sacristy, also known as a vestry or preparation room, is a room in Christianity, Christian churches for the keeping of vestments (such as the alb and chasuble) and other church furnishings, sacred vessels, and parish records. The sacristy is us ...

in stone was built on the north side of the choir in the early 15th century. Over the centuries the building has been remodeled several times and the floor plan has undergone several changes. The interior features the remains of murals from the 13th century with famous Biblical motifs. The

altarpiece An altarpiece is a painting or sculpture, including relief, of religious subject matter made for placing at the back of or behind the altar of a Christian church. Though most commonly used for a single work of art such as a painting or sculpture, ...

dating from the 1650s was carved by Trøndelag-based artist and craftsman Johan Johansen (d. 1657) who was called a woodcarver () and painted by Johan Hanssønn listed as portrait artist (). Around the year 1700, a new porch was built on the southwest entrance to the church. In 1788, a new tower and spire was built on top of the nave's roof. In 1814, this church served as an election church (). Together with more than 300 other parish churches across Norway, it was a polling station for elections to the 1814

Norwegian Constituent Assembly The Norwegian Constituent Assembly ( or ) is the name given to the 1814 constitutional assembly that adopted the Norwegian Constitution and formalised the dissolution of the union with Denmark. The meetings took place at the Eidsvoll Manor in th ...

which wrote the

Constitution of Norway The 'Constitution of Norway'' (complete name: The Constitution of the Kingdom of Norway; Danish language, Danish: ; Norwegian language, Norwegian Bokmål: ; Nynorsk, Norwegian Nynorsk: ) was adopted on 16 May and signed on 17 May 1814 by the N ...

. This was Norway's first national elections. Each church parish was a constituency that elected people called "electors" who later met together in each county to elect the representatives for the assembly that was to meet at Eidsvoll Manor later that year.

Media gallery

Alstadhaug(19) Kor og apsis.jpg, Church nave Gabriel Alstadhaug.jpg, Pulpit details, angel Gabriel Alstadhaug(43) Apsishvælv (1).jpg, Fresco over apse arc Alstadhaug(52) Oktogonens vinduer (1).jpg, Details of octagonal apse Alstadhaug(27) Prædikestol (1).jpg, ALSTADHAUG KIRKE - an10071204120003.jpg, Church floor plan ALSTADHAUG KIRKE - an10071204120006.jpg, Side view ALSTADHAUG KIRKE - an10071204120005.jpg, Side view Alstadhaug kirke 001.JPG, Exterior side view Alstadhaug(01).jpg, Chancel and apse view

References

{{use dmy dates, date=June 2021 Levanger Churches in Trøndelag Long churches in Norway Stone churches in Norway 12th-century churches in Norway 12th-century establishments in Norway Norwegian election churches

History

Media gallery

See also

References