Tjeldsund 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 ...

Tjeldsund Municipality or is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Troms Counties of Norway, county, Norway. The southwestern part of the municipality is part of the Districts of Norway, traditional district of Ofoten and the rest of the municipality is ...

Troms Troms (; ; ; ) is a Counties of Norway, county in northern Norway. It borders Finnmark county to the northeast and Nordland county in the southwest. Norrbotten Län in Sweden is located to the south and further southeast is a shorter border with ...

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 Hol i Tjeldsund on the island of

Tjeldøya Tjeldøya ( Norwegian; ) is an island in Troms county, Norway. The island is located entirely in Tjeldsund Municipality. North and west of the island lies the Tjeldsundet strait which separates it from the large island of Hinnøya; south of the ...

. It is the main church for the Tjeldsund

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

Trondenes prosti Trondenes is a neighborhood and parish in the town of Harstad in Harstad Municipality in Troms county, Norway. The area is located on the northern end of the town, on a peninsula in the Vågsfjorden. The village is notable for the Trondenes Fo ...

(

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 Nord-Hålogaland. 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 1901 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 ...

Ole Scheistrøen Ole Olsen Scheistrøen (16 August 1833 – 4 February 1921) was a Norwegian architect and builder. Scheistrøen had no formal architectural education and he, in fact, referred to himself as a builder and not an architect. However, he design ...

. The church seats about 420 people.

History

The earliest existing historical records of the church date back to 1589, but the church was not new at that time. The medieval churches were located about to the east of the present site, nearly to the shoreline of the fjord. Not much is recorded about the early medieval churches, but in 1703 a new church building was constructed (or a previous building was heavily renovated). In 1768, a new church was built on the site. This church was a

design 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 ...

. The entry porch on the new church was constructed from salvaged materials from the old church. The church measured about . In 1862, a new church was constructed about west of the old church. After the new church was completed, the old church was torn down and its materials were purchased by a local man who used them to build a barn. In 1899-1901, the church was dismantled and heavily remodelled after expanding the foundation walls. After the renovation, it has a rectangular

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 narrower, rectangular

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 ...

with a narrower,

apse In architecture, an apse (: apses; from Latin , 'arch, vault'; from Ancient Greek , , 'arch'; sometimes written apsis; : apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical Vault (architecture), vault or semi-dome, also known as an ' ...

on the end of the choir. On each side of the choir there are sacristies. To the west is an entry porch with a tower above it. There are also two small extensions on each side of the nave which give the building a cross-shape.

Media gallery

Tjeldsund kirke.JPG Tjeldsund kirke kordelen.JPG Tjeldsund kirke innvendig.JPG Tjeldsund kirke alteret.JPG Tjeldsund kirke prekestol.JPG Tjeldsund kirke sidealter.JPG

References

{{use dmy dates, date=March 2021 Tjeldsund Churches in Troms Wooden churches in Norway 20th-century Church of Norway church buildings Churches completed in 1901 16th-century establishments in Norway Long churches in Norway

History

Media gallery

See also

References