Fjell 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 ...

Øygarden Municipality Øygarden is a municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is an island municipality located in the traditional district of Midhordland, stretching along the west coast of the county. The village of Straume is the administrative centre of the mu ...

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

Fjell Fjell is a former municipality in the old Hordaland county, Norway. It is part of the traditional district of Midhordland. The municipality consisted of several islands west of the city of Bergen, the major ones being Litlesotra, the northern ...

on the island of

Sotra Sotra or Store Sotra is the name of a large island in Øygarden Municipality in Vestland county, Norway, located just west of the city of Bergen. It is part of a pair of islands called ' Sotra' and ' Litlesotra' ('small Sotra') that are part of ...

. It is one of the three churches for the Fjell

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 Vesthordland 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 1874 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 ...

Conrad Fredrik von der Lippe. The church seats about 700 people.

History

The earliest existing historical records of the church date back to the year 1330, but the church was not new that year. The first church at Fjell was 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 ...

that was likely built during the 13th century. That church stood about south of the present church site. Sometime during the 1600s, but before 1686, the old medieval church was torn down. 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 ...

was built on the same site to replace it. In 1725, the church was sold into private ownership. The new owner was Abraham Wessel from

Bergen Bergen (, ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo. By May 20 ...

. In 1795, the old

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 ...

was torn down and a new nave was rebuilt on the same site. (An alternate theory mentioned in one source is that the church was only renovated in the 1600s, and that the stave church was torn down and replaced in 1795.) Ownership of the church changed hands several times over the years and in 1869, the church was sold back to the parish by the Krohn family. Shortly thereafter, in 1871, the parish decided that the present church was too small and it needed to replace that church. In 1874, a new church was built about to the north of the old church. The new church was designed by the

Conrad Fredrik von der Lippe and Ole Syslak from

Lindås Lindås is a List of former municipalities of Norway, former municipality in the Nordhordland district in the old Hordaland county, Norway. It existed from 1838 until its dissolution on 1 January 2020 when it was merged into the new Alver Munici ...

was hired as the lead builder for the project. The new church 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 28 August 1874. About one year after the new church was completed, the old church was torn down and that area was turned into a cemetery. In 1971–1972, a large wing was built to the west of the

which houses a parish hall. This addition was designed by

Torgeir Alvsaker Torgeir Alvsaker (1875—1971) was a Norwegian architect. Alvsaker was born 9 February 1875 on the Alvsaker farm in Kinsarvik, Norway. He attended the Bergen Technical School and graduated in 1898. He then became an assistant to architect Ad ...

and

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 ...

Media gallery

Fjell kirke, Hordaland - Riksantikvaren-T262 01 0058.jpg, Exterior of the church Alterskap fjell kirke.jpg, Altarpiece

References

{{use dmy dates, date=May 2020 Øygarden Churches in Vestland Long churches in Norway Wooden churches in Norway 19th-century Church of Norway church buildings Churches completed in 1874 13th-century establishments in Norway

History

Media gallery

See also

References