Geiranger 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 ...

Stranda Municipality Stranda is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Møre og Romsdal Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Sunnmøre Districts of Norway, region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Stranda, ...

Møre og Romsdal Møre og Romsdal (; ) is a Counties of Norway, county in the northernmost part of Western Norway, Western Norway. It borders the counties of Trøndelag, Innlandet, and Vestland. The county administration is located in the Molde (town), town of M ...

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

Geiranger Geiranger is a small tourist village in Sunnmøre region of Møre og Romsdal county in the western part of Norway. It is located in Stranda Municipality at the head of the Geirangerfjorden, which is a branch of the large Storfjorden (Sunnmøre), ...

, and the end of the famous

Geirangerfjorden or is a fjord in the Sunnmøre region of Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is located entirely in Stranda Municipality. It is a branch off the Sunnylvsfjorden, which itself is a branch off the Storfjorden (). The small village of Geiranger ...

. It is the church for the Geiranger

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 Nordre Sunnmøre 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 Møre. The white, wooden church was built in an

octagonal In geometry, an octagon () is an eight-sided polygon or 8-gon. A '' regular octagon'' has Schläfli symbol and can also be constructed as a quasiregular truncated square, t, which alternates two types of edges. A truncated octagon, t is a hex ...

design in 1842 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 ...

Hans Klipe. The church seats about 124 people.

History

The earliest existing historical records of the church date back to 1589, but it was not new at that time. The first church in Geiranger 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 possibly constructed in the 15th century as a chapel. The first building measured about wide and about long. At some point, 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 ...

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 ...

and

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 ...

were added to the building. In 1742, the old chapel was torn down. Two years later, in 1744, a new wooden

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 was completed on the same site. On 2 July 1841 the church burned down after a

deaf-mute Deaf-mute is a term which was used historically to identify a person who was either deaf and used sign language or both hearing impairment, deaf and muteness, could not speak. The term continues to be used to refer to deaf people who cannot speak ...

person who was a part of the parish set the building on fire in a case of

arson Arson is the act of willfully and deliberately setting fire to or charring property. Although the act of arson typically involves buildings, the term can also refer to the intentional burning of other things, such as motor vehicles, watercr ...

. Church records say the man was 52 years old and was always known for being a "proper and Godly man." The following year in 1843, a new

building was constructed on the same site. The new building has a tower on the roof over the centre of the church. The new church was completed on 16 July 1842 and it 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 1842. The church was decorated by woodcarver Einar Flydahl on the occasion of the church's centenary. The altarpiece was carved by Flydal and painted by Harald Brun in 1902, and depicts Christ as comforter. The church bell is from 1899 and the organ from 1964.

Media gallery

Iglesia parroquial, Geiranger, Noruega, 2019-09-07, DD 84-97 PAN.jpg Geiranger, Kyrkje - panoramio.jpg Geiranger kirke, Geiranger kyrkje, Møre og Romsdal - Riksantikvaren-T316 01 0048.jpg Geiranger kyrkje Wilse 1905.jpeg

References

{{use dmy dates, date=July 2021 Stranda Churches in Møre og Romsdal Wooden churches in Norway Octagonal churches in Norway 19th-century Church of Norway church buildings Churches completed in 1842 15th-century establishments in Norway

History

Media gallery

See also

References