Austefjord 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 ...

Volda Municipality Volda is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Møre og Romsdal Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Sunnmøre Districts of Norway, region. The administrative centre is the Volda (village), village of Volda. Other v ...

Møre og Romsdal Møre og Romsdal (; ) is a Counties of Norway, county in the northernmost part of Western Norway, Western Norway. It borders the counties of Trøndelag, Innlandet, and Vestland. The county administration is located in the Molde (town), town of M ...

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

Fyrde Fyrde is a village in Volda Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The village is located at the end of the Austefjorden branch of the main Voldsfjorden. Austefjord Church is located in Fyrde. In 2012, the European route E39 highwa ...

, at the eastern end of the Austefjorden. It is the church for the Austefjord

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 Søre Sunnmøre 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 Møre The Diocese of Møre () is a diocese in the Church of Norway which geographically consists of Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. Its bishop is seated at the Molde Cathedral which is located in the county administrative center of Molde. , the Bisho ...

. The white, wooden 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 ...

design in 1879 using plans drawn up by an unknown

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 ...

. The church seats about 150 people.

History

The church was originally built in 1773 (some sources say 1766) in the village of

Nes The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on 15 July 1983 as the and was later released as the redesigned NES in several test markets in the ...

Bjugn Municipality Bjugn is a former municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1853 until its dissolution in 2020 when it was merged into Ørland Municipality. It was part of the Fosen region. The village of Botngård was the admini ...

(now part of

Ørland Municipality Ørland is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Trøndelag Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Fosen Districts of Norway, region. Ørland is located at the southwestern tip of the Fosen peninsula at the northern ...

), where it was known as Nes Church. The Bjugn parish sold the church to the parish of Volda in April 1879 for . The church was then disassembled and moved from Nes to the village of

. It was reassembled there and renamed Austefjord Chapel (it was later renamed as a church). The builder was Gjert Lien from

Nordfjord Nordfjord (—in contrast to Sunnfjord) is a traditional district in Vestland county, Norway. Geography The region is located in the northern part of Vestland county in Western Norway. It centers on the Nordfjorden and it comprises Stad Muni ...

. The new church was completed and put into use in November 1879. The building was

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 ...

on 1 July 1880 by the local parish priest Lars Gledistch. Originally, the church was painted red, but later this was changed to white.

Media gallery

Austefjord kirke.jpg Austefjord kyrkje (Volda) 03.jpg Austefjord kyrkje (Volda) 04.jpg Austefjord kyrkje.jpg

References

{{use dmy dates, date=August 2021 Volda Churches in Møre og Romsdal Wooden churches in Norway Long churches in Norway 18th-century Church of Norway church buildings Churches completed in 1773 1879 establishments in Norway

History

Media gallery

See also

References