Old Eidfjord Church () is a former

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 ...

Eidfjord Municipality Eidfjord is a municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The municipality is located in the traditional district of Hardanger. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Eidfjord, where the majority of the municipal populatio ...

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

Eidfjord Eidfjord is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The municipality is located in the Districts of Norway, traditional district of Hardanger. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of E ...

. It was historically the church for the Eidfjord

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

Hardanger og Voss prosti Hardanger is a traditional district in the western part of Norway, dominated by the Hardangerfjord and its inner branches of the Sørfjorden and the Eid Fjord. It consists of the municipalities of Ullensvang, Eidfjord, Ulvik and Kvam, and is l ...

(

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 whitewashed, stone church was built in a

rectangular In Euclidean plane geometry, a rectangle is a rectilinear convex polygon or a quadrilateral with four right angles. It can also be defined as: an equiangular quadrilateral, since equiangular means that all of its angles are equal (360°/4 = 90 ...

design around the year 1309 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 ...

. The church seats about 100 people. The church was the main church for the Eidfjord parish (sokn) until 1981 when the new

Eidfjord Church Eidfjord Church () is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Eidfjord Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is located in the village of Eidfjord. It is the church for the Eidfjord parish which is part of the Hardanger og Voss prosti (de ...

was completed. The old church is now used only for special occasions since it only seats about 100 people. The church is decorated as to look as it did in the 18th century.

History

The earliest existing historical records of the church date back to around the year 1309 in a letter talking about how Thorgeir Peterson Sponheim gave money to help pay for the construction of this church. The church was originally constructed around the year 1300 using stone. The church's

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

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 ...

have the same width, giving the church a

design. The rectangular building measures about with the

area taking up about one-third of the space. The walls of the church vary, but typically range about thick. During the 1600s, records show that the walls were in poor condition and so they were significantly repaired. Strangely, Eidfjord Church historically belonged to the

Diocese of Stavanger The Diocese of Stavanger () is a diocese in the Church of Norway. It covers all of Rogaland county in western Norway. The cathedral city is Stavanger, where the Stavanger Cathedral is located. The bishop is Anne Lise Ådnøy, who has held the p ...

, while the neighboring Kinsarvik Church and

Ulvik Church Ulvik Church () is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Samnanger Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is located in the village of Ulvik. It is the church for the Ulvik parish which is part of the Hardanger og Voss prosti (deanery ...

(and the rest of the county) belonged to the

. In 1630, the parish of Eidfjord was transferred to the Diocese of Bjørgvin. During the late-1600s, a wooden

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 ...

was built on the west end of the nave. It wasn't until the 19th century that the church received a small tower on the roof. By the late-20th century, the old church was no longer appropriate to continue using as the church for the parish. A new

was built just northwest of the old church in 1981 to replace the centuries-old building. Afterwards, the old church was renamed "Old Eidfjord Church" and it was taken out of regular use. It is now used mostly as a museum, but it is still used for special occasions.

Media gallery

Eidfjord gamle kirke.jpg, View of the rear of the building Wedding procession, ca 1915 (Fylkesarkivet i Sogn og Fjordane).jpg, Wedding procession (1915) Eidfjord gamle kyrkje Wilse.jpeg, Exterior view (1927) Eidfjord gamle kirke - no-nb digifoto 20160222 00099 NB MIT FNR 00954.jpg, Exterior (c. 1940) Eidfjord kirke, Hordaland - Riksantikvaren-T277 01 0041.jpg, Front view (undated) Eidfjord gamle kirke - no-nb digifoto 20150226 00073 NB MIT FNR 00149.jpg, Exterior (c. 1950) Eidfjord gamle kyrkje interior Wilse.jpeg, Interior view (1912) Interior, Edifjord church, ca. 1915. (3613052749).jpg, Interior (1915)

References

{{use dmy dates, date=May 2020 Eidfjord Churches in Vestland Rectangular churches in Norway Stone churches in Norway 14th-century churches in Norway Buildings and structures completed in 1309 14th-century establishments in Norway

History

Media gallery

See also

References