Borge 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 ...

Vestvågøy Municipality Vestvågøy is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Nordland Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Districts of Norway, traditional district of Lofoten. The administrative centre of the municipality is the List of t ...

Nordland Nordland (; , , , ) is one of the three northernmost Counties of Norway, counties in Norway in the Northern Norway region, bordering Troms in the north, Trøndelag in the south, Norrbotten County in Sweden to the east, Västerbotten County to t ...

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 just outside of the village of

Bøstad Bøstad is a village in Vestvågøy Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is located along the European route E10 highway just next to the hamlet of Borg (and the Lofotr museum) in the central part of the island of Vestvågøya in the Lofo ...

on the island of

Vestvågøya Vestvågøya (or less-commonly: ''Vest-Vågøy'') is an island in the Lofoten archipelago in Nordland county, Norway. The island is located within Vestvågøy Municipality. The island lies between the islands of Austvågøya and Gimsøya to t ...

. It is the church for the Borge

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

Lofoten prosti Lofoten ( , ; ; ) is an archipelago and a traditional district in the county of Nordland, Norway. Lofoten has distinctive scenery with dramatic mountains and peaks, open sea and sheltered bays, beaches, and untouched lands. There are two towns, ...

(

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 Sør-Hålogaland Sør-Hålogaland is a diocese in the Church of Norway. The Diocese covers the Lutheran Church of Norway churches located within Nordland county in Norway. The diocese is headquartered in the Bodø (town), town of Bodø at Bodø Cathedral, the sea ...

. The red and white

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of aggregate bound together with a fluid cement that cures to a solid over time. It is the second-most-used substance (after water), the most–widely used building material, and the most-manufactur ...

church was built in a fan-shaped style in 1986 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 ...

Knut Gjernes. The church seats about 600 people. The building was

consecrate 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 ( ...

d on 31 May 1987.

History

Borge Church is first mentioned in written sources in a document from 1335, but the church was not built that year. There likely have been six churches on this site over the centuries. The original church was located about northwest of the present church site. By the mid-1600s, the old medieval church had fallen into disrepair and in 1659 it was torn down. A new

cruciform A cruciform is a physical manifestation resembling a common cross or Christian cross. These include architectural shapes, biology, art, and design. Cruciform architectural plan Christian churches are commonly described as having a cruciform ...

log church was built to replace it on the same site. It was repaired extensively in 1702, but by 1725 it was described as being dilapidated and in poor condition. It was torn down and replaced in 1730. This new church was a

timber-framed Timber framing () and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy Beam (structure), timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and Woodworking joints, joined timbers with joints secure ...

long church with a cross-arm extension on the north side and 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 ...

on the south side along the

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 ...

. About 40 years later, a southern cross-arm was added, giving the building a

design. In 1797, the old church was torn down and construction on a new church on the same site began. During the construction in 1798, a large storm hit and knocked down the partially built church, so the construction had to start over. Around 1800, the new church was finally completed. It was a cruciform design, just like its predecessor. In 1814, this church served as an

election church An election church () is a term used for approximately 300 churches in Norway that were used as polling stations during the elections to the Norwegian Constituent Assembly at Eidsvoll in 1814. This was Norway's first national elections and this ass ...

(). 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. In 1877, the church underwent a renovation. In 1896, the church was struck by

lightning Lightning is a natural phenomenon consisting of electrostatic discharges occurring through the atmosphere between two electrically charged regions. One or both regions are within the atmosphere, with the second region sometimes occurring on ...

and burned to the ground. Soon afterwards, construction on a new church began. The new building was designed by the

H. Jürgensen. It was a large wooden long church with small, pointed towers over both the

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 ...

and

and room for 800 people. The new building was

d in 1898. On 14 February 1983 during a large winter storm, the church caught fire and burned down. It was then decided to move the church location about to the southeast of the previous church site. The new church was completed in 1987 and

d on 31 May 1987.

Media gallery

Borg-Kirche-04-2019-gje.jpg, Seen from Lofotr Vikingmuseum Borge kyrkje i Lofoten taarn.jpg, Borge kirke 2009-07-03.JPG, 2010-08-03 - Borg - Kirche - erbaut 1987.jpg, Borge krk.(Nordl).JPG, Borg-Kirche-08-zum Altar-2019-gje.jpg, Interior Borge kyrkje i Lofoten alter orgel.jpg, Altar and organ

References

{{use dmy dates, date=March 2021 Vestvågøy Churches in Nordland 20th-century Church of Norway church buildings Churches completed in 1987 14th-century establishments in Norway Norwegian election churches Fan-shaped churches in Norway Concrete churches in Norway

History

Media gallery

See also

References