Breim 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 ...

Gloppen Municipality Gloppen is a municipality in the county of Vestland, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Nordfjord. Gloppen is generally subdivided into three areas: Hyen in the west, Gloppen in the center, and Breim in the east. Each of the ...

Vestland Vestland is a Counties of Norway, county in Norway. The county is located in Western Norway, and its administrative centre is Bergen, where the executive and political leadership is based. The County governor (Norway), County Governor is based in ...

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 Re on the shore of the lake

Breimsvatnet Breimsvatn or Breimsvatnet is a lake in the municipalities of Gloppen and Sunnfjord in Vestland county, Norway. At , it is the largest lake in Gloppen (followed by the lake Emhjellevatnet). The European route E39 highway runs along the north ...

. It is the church for the Breim

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 Nordfjord 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 Bjørgvin The Diocese of Bjørgvin () is one of the 11 dioceses that make up the Church of Norway. It includes all of the churches located in the county of Vestland in Western Norway, and those outside of Norway in the Seamen's Church. The cathedral cit ...

. 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 ...

style in 1886 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 ...

Haakon Thorsen. The church seats about 500 people.

History

The earliest existing historical records of the church date back to the year 1308, but it was not new at that time. The original church at Re was likely a wooden

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 ...

located at Hetle, about northwest of the present church site. The first church here was likely built during the 13th century. In 1334, there was a fire in the church rectory. In 1620, the medieval church was torn down and replaced with a new

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 ...

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 ...

church. That building was poorly constructed, and it was replaced by a new cruciform church in 1667. In the 1880s, it was decided to tear down the old church so that a new, larger church could be built. It was also decided that the church should be moved a short distance to the southeast so that it would be more centrally located in the village. This new church was completed in 1886, the same year that the

Breim Breim is a Former municipalities of Norway, former municipality in the old Sogn og Fjordane Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Districts of Norway, traditional district of Nordfjord in the eastern part of the present-day Gloppe ...

parish was separated from Gloppen to become a separate municipality. The new church 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 9 July 1886 by Bishop Fredrik Waldemar Hvoslef. The old church was torn down in 1887. The new church was a wooden

with a

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 a

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 ...

Media gallery

Breim gamle kirke NF.09200-002.jpg, View of the old church (1667-1887) Breim kyrkje Lindahl.jpeg, View of the new church from the site of the old church (c. 1890) Breim kyrkje Wilse.jpeg, View of the present church (c. 1926) FV5734 Breim kirke.jpg, View of the present church (2017)

References

{{use dmy dates, date=August 2021 Gloppen Churches in Vestland Long churches in Norway Wooden churches in Norway 19th-century Church of Norway church buildings Churches completed in 1886 13th-century establishments in Norway

History

Media gallery

See also

References