Sula Chapel () 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 ...

Frøya Municipality Frøya is the westernmost List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Trøndelag Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Fosen Districts of Norway, region and consists of the Frøya (island), island of Frøya, which lies nor ...

Trøndelag Trøndelag (; or is a county and coextensive with the Trøndelag region (also known as ''Midt-Norge'' or ''Midt-Noreg,'' "Mid-Norway") in the central part of Norway. It was created in 1687, then named Trondhjem County (); in 1804 the county was ...

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 on the island of Sula. It is one of several churches for the Frøya

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

Orkdal prosti This list of churches in Nidaros is a list of the Church of Norway churches in the Diocese of Nidaros in Norway. It includes all of the parishes in Trøndelag county. The diocese is based at the Nidaros Cathedral in the city of Trondheim (city), T ...

(

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 Nidaros Nidaros is a diocese in the Lutheran Church of Norway. It covers Trøndelag county in Central Norway and its cathedral city is Trondheim, which houses the well-known Nidaros Cathedral. Since 10 September 2017, the Bishop of Nidaros is Herborg ...

. 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 1925 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 ...

Martin Pettersen. The church seats about 200 people.

History

The earliest existing historical records of the church date back to the year 1589, but the church was likely first established during the 12th century. The first church on the site 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 ...

located about east of the present church site. The church existed on the island for several centuries. The church originally had few or no windows or tower, but it did have a , an opening in the roof of a building to let smoke out of the fireplace and light in. In 1702, the church underwent extensive renovations including the replacement of windows,

rafter A rafter is one of a series of sloped structural members such as Beam (structure), steel beams that extend from the ridge or hip to the wall plate, downslope perimeter or eave, and that are designed to support the roof Roof shingle, shingles, ...

s, beams, and floors, as well as the tarring of the wooden shingles on the roof. In 1740, a royal resolution was handed down that approved the closing of the chapel on Sula and moving the church site to Sletten on the northeast shore of the main island of Frøya. It wasn't until 1754 that the church in Sula was dismantled, shipped to Sletten, and then rebuilt on the new site with a

design and known as Sletta Church. The newly rebuilt church 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 4 September 1755. After the old church was moved, the cemetery on the old site remained in use until 1849 when it was closed. Many years later in 1925, a chapel was built on the site of the old church. There was no church here from 1755 until 1925. The chapel was built about west of the old church site, just below the Sula Lighthouse. The new building is a wooden

with a two-story extension on the west end which houses a meeting house on the second floor.

References

{{use dmy dates, date=July 2021 Froan Churches in Trøndelag Long churches in Norway Wooden churches in Norway 20th-century Church of Norway church buildings Churches completed in 1925 12th-century establishments in Norway 18th-century disestablishments in Norway 1925 establishments in Norway

History

See also

References