Rovde 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 ...

Vanylven Municipality Vanylven 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 is the village of Fiskå, Møre og Romsdal, Fi ...

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

Rovdane Rovdane is a village in Vanylven Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is located along the Rovdefjorden, about north of the village of Syvde, northeast of the municipal center of Fiskå, and (by road, not counting the ferry's ...

, along the

Rovdefjorden Rovdefjorden is a fjord (more precisely, a strait) in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The fjord runs through the municipalities of Sande Municipality (Møre og Romsdal), Sande, Herøy Municipality (Møre og Romsdal), Herøy, Vanylven Municipalit ...

. It is the church for the Rovde

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 Søre 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 Diocese of Møre () is a diocese in the Church of Norway which geographically consists of Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. Its bishop is seated at the Molde Cathedral which is located in the county administrative center of Molde. , the Bisho ...

. 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 1872 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 ...

Lars Tornæs Lars is a common male name in Scandinavian countries. Origin ''Lars'' means "from the city of Laurentum". Lars is derived from the Latin name Laurentius, which means "from Laurentum" or "crowned with laurel", and is therefore related to the name ...

from

Ålesund Ålesund () is a List of towns and cities in Norway, town in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The town is the administrative centre of Ålesund Municipality. The centre of the town of Ålesund lies on the islands of Hessa, Aspøya, Ålesund, Asp� ...

. The church seats about 350 people.

History

The earliest existing historical records of the church date back to 1589, but the church was not new that year. The first church in Rovde was a small, 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 established during the 13th century. The first church was located a few meters south of the present church site. The medieval church was had a

design with a slate roof and no tower or spire. It was one of the poorest parishes in all of

Sunnmøre Sunnmøre (, ) is the southernmost traditional district of the western Norwegian county of Møre og Romsdal. Its main city is Ålesund. The region comprises the municipalities () of Fjord, Giske, Hareid, Herøy, Sande, Haram, Stranda Mu ...

, not owning any property except for a few cows. Probably in the 1600s, the church was enlarged by adding 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 ...

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 ...

and the old nave from the stave church was converted into the 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 ...

. By the early 1800s, the church was in poor shape due to deterioration over time. In 1831, the centuries-old building was torn down. In 1831–1832, a new wooden church was constructed on the same site. The new church was a

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 2 July 1832. In 1872, after only 40 years in use, the parish decided to build a new church since the old one was small and not built well. So in 1872, the church was disassembled and sold. The materials were purchased by an individual who used them to build a boathouse on nearby Sandsøya. After the old church was removed, a new church was constructed on a new site, a few meters to the northwest of the old church site. The new church was also a

with a

and

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 and a

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 ...

on the west end. It was designed by the builder Lars Tornæs from

, who presumably used the nearby

Syvde Church Syvde Church () is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Vanylven Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is located in the village of Syvde. It is the church for the Syvde parish which is part of the Søre Sunnmøre prosti (de ...

as a model. The new building was

on 2 November 1872.

References

{{use dmy dates, date=August 2021 Vanylven Churches in Møre og Romsdal Wooden churches in Norway Long churches in Norway 19th-century Church of Norway church buildings Churches completed in 1872 13th-century establishments in Norway

History

See also

References