Hopen 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 ...

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

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 Hopen, along the northern coast of the island of Smøla. It is the church for the Hopen

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

Ytre Nordmøre prosti Ytre is the Norwegian word for "outer". It may refer to: People: *Knut Ytre-Arne (1896–1968), Norwegian politician for the Liberal Party Places: *Ytre Østfold, the outer coastal area of Østfold county, Norway *Ytre Øydnavatnet, lake in Lyngda ...

(

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 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 1892 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 ...

Adolf Schirmer. The church seats about 260 people.

History

The earliest existing historical records of the church date to the year 1589, but the church was not new that year. The first church in Hopen was established during the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

at Veiholmen on a small island about northwest of the present church site. The church was a

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 ...

with no tower or spire. It was likely built during the 14th century. The rocky island was not a good site for a

cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite, graveyard, or a green space called a memorial park or memorial garden, is a place where the remains of many death, dead people are burial, buried or otherwise entombed. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek ...

alongside the church, so residents had to travel to Brattvær Church for funerals and burials. By the 1720s, the church was in poor condition and it was decided to find a new church site and to build a new church there. It was decided to build the church on the north side of the main island of Smøla in the village of Hopen. The new church was completed in 1749. The old church was closed and it wasn't until 1760 that the old church was torn down. Most of the interior furniture from the old church was transferred to the new church in Hopen. The new church in Hopen was 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 ...

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 ...

church with 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 ...

on the east end. 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 5 August 1749 and it was formally named ''Hopen Church'', but it was quite often called ''Smøla Church'' since it was the first church on that larger island (there were several other church on smaller surrounding islands). The new church included a

graveyard A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite, graveyard, or a green space called a memorial park or memorial garden, is a place where the remains of many death, dead people are burial, buried or otherwise entombed. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek ...

surrounding the building. The tower and spire on the roof was struck by lightning and damaged on Christmas Day 1842. It was repaired soon afterwards. In 1884, the cemetery surrounding the church was closed because the soil was thin and wet and difficult to bury people. Burial sites were used at Ytre Roksvåg and on Veiholmen after the cemetery was closed. By the mid-1880s, the church had fallen into disrepair so thoroughly that it could not be saved. In 1890, permission was granted to demolish the church and build a new one on the same site. The last service was held on 8 February 1891. The new church was completed in 1892 and

on 20 July 1892. It was designed by Adolf Schirmer and built by builder Christian Hovde (who had also recently built the nearby Brattvær Church). The new church was a wooden

with a tower on the west end 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 ...

and

on the east end. In 1966, a new baptismal

and bathroom were built on both sides of the tower.

Media gallery

Hopen kyrkjestad.jpg Hopen kyrkje 1.jpg Hopen kyrkje.jpg

References

{{use dmy dates, date=July 2021 Smøla Churches in Møre og Romsdal Long churches in Norway Wooden churches in Norway 19th-century Church of Norway church buildings Churches completed in 1892 14th-century establishments in Norway

History

Media gallery

See also

References