Flosta 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 ...

Arendal Municipality Arendal () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Agder counties of Norway, county in southeastern Norway. Arendal belongs to the Districts of Norway, region of Southern Norway, Sørlandet. The administrative centre of the munici ...

Agder Agder is a counties of Norway, county () and districts of Norway, traditional region in the southern part of Norway and is coextensive with the Southern Norway region. The county was established on 1 January 2020, when the old Vest-Agder and Au ...

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 north of the village of Narestø on the island of

Flostaøya Flostaøya is an island in Arendal municipality in Agder county, Norway. The island lies along the Skaggerak coast between the islands of Tromøy (island), Tromøy to the southwest and Tverrdalsøya to the northeast. The island lies about nort ...

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 1632 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 ...

(it was later converted to a

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 ...

design). The church seats about 290 people.

History

The earliest existing historical records of the church date back to the year 1467, but the church was not new that year. The old church was possibly built around the year 1300. Not much is known about the old church, but in 1628, the church was described as old and dilapidated. In 1632, the church was torn down and replaced with a new building on the same site. Around 1700, the church was expanded and got a new

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 ...

on the east side of the building. In 1735-1736 a bell tower was added on the west end of the building. In 1739, there was a small fire in the church, but there was little damage. In 1747, the church was expanded by adding two wings on the north and south sides to create a

design. The builder Ole Nielsen Weierholt led this work. 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 in

Eidsvoll Eidsvoll (; sometimes written as ''Eidsvold'') is a Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Akershus Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Romerike Districts of Norway, traditional region. The administrative centre of the munic ...

later that year. There was another small fire in the building in 1824. In 1864, the church was enlarged again with Anders Thorbjørnsen as builder. The roof was raised higher and the building was extended to the east. The choir was moved into the new addition on the east end. During this renovation, the church was given a

neo-Gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half of the 19th century ...

design. In 1976, the church was restored and renovated with consultation by National Heritage Board and the interior was brought back to its 1747 look. The choir was moved to the north end of the church and the east end (where the choir used to be) was turned into a church hall. There were small fires in the church 1980 and again in 1988, but neither caused major damage.

Media gallery

Flosta kirke front id 84165.jpg Flosta kirke, Aust-Agder - Riksantikvaren-T182 01 0056.jpg Flosta kirke alter id 84165.jpg Flosta kirke prekestol id 84165.jpg Flosta kirke votiv id 84165.jpg Flosta kirke vindfloy id 84165.jpg

References

{{use dmy dates, date=January 2021 Buildings and structures in Arendal Churches in Agder Wooden churches in Norway Cruciform churches in Norway 17th-century Church of Norway church buildings Churches completed in 1632 14th-century establishments in Norway Norwegian election churches

History

Media gallery

See also

References