Fitjar 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 ...

Fitjar Municipality Fitjar () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland Counties of Norway, county, Norway. The municipality is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Sunnhordland. Fitjar municipality includes ...

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 Fitjar. It is the church for the Fitjar

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 Sunnhordland 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 ...

design in 1867 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 ...

John O. Kaarhus from

Skånevik Skånevik is a former municipality in the old Hordaland county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 1965. It included the land surrounding both sides of the Skånevikfjorden and its smaller branches: the Åkr ...

. The church seats about 425 people.

History

The first church at Fitjar was probably a wooden

post church Post church (Norwegian: ''stolpekirke'') is a term for a church building which predates the stave churches and differ in that the corner posts do not reside on a sill but instead have posts dug into the earth. Posts are the vertical, roof-bearin ...

that was built in the 10th century on a site about north of the present church site. A wooden coffin was discovered near the present church in 1997 that was dated to the 10th century, so it is likely the church was in existence at that time. During the early 12th century, a new stone church was built at Fitjar. This stone building was built around the same time as the

Old Moster Church Old Moster Church () is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Bømlo Municipality in Vestland county, Norway, and it is one of the oldest churches in all of Norway. It is located in the village of Mosterhamn on the Moster (island), island of ...

was built since the two churches have similar designs. The new church was built of stone and it probably did not have a steeple. The main part of the church was approximately with 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 ...

that measured and a smaller

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 ...

that measured . The walls of the church were approximately thick. Prior to 1862, Fitjar Church was an annex to the large parish of

Stord Stord is a municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Sunnhordland. Stord is sometimes called "Norway in miniature" since i ...

. In 1862, Fitjar was split off to form its own parish. At that time, it was decided that the old church was too small for the new parish so a new church would be built. In 1867, the old church was torn down and a new wooden church was built about to the south of the old stone church. The new wooden

had a

that is approximately and the choir is about . On the east end of the choir lies 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 ...

and on the west end of the nave is a

church porch A church porch is a room-like structure at a church's main entrance. A porch protects from the weather to some extent. Some porches have an outer door, others a simple gate, and in some cases the outer opening is not closed in any way. The porch ...

with a tower above it. Stone from the old church was used in building the foundation for the new church. There were also many items from the old church that were kept and are still used in the new church including the old

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, ...

, some brass candlesticks, and the

baptismal font A baptismal font is an Church architecture, ecclesiastical architectural element, which serves as a receptacle for baptismal water used for baptism, as a part of Christian initiation for both rites of Infant baptism, infant and Believer's bapti ...

. The interior of the church was remodeled using plans drawn up by

Einar Vaardal-Lunde Einar Vaardal-Lunde (1915–2003) was a Norwegian architect. Vaardal-Lunde was educated at the Norwegian Institute of Technology, graduating in 1940. After World War II, he participated in the rebuilding efforts and reconstruction in Finnmark un ...

in 1957. In 1985, the

in the east was enlarged.

Media gallery

Fitjar kyrkje.JPG Fitjar Church and Håkonarparken.JPG Fitjar Church1.JPG Fitjar Church2.JPG

References

{{use dmy dates, date=May 2020 Fitjar Churches in Vestland Long churches in Norway Wooden churches in Norway 19th-century Church of Norway church buildings Churches completed in 1867 10th-century establishments in Norway

History

Media gallery

See also

References