Utstein Abbey () is

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 ...

's best-preserved

medieval 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 World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...

. It is located on the southern shore of the island of

Klosterøy Klosterøy is an island in Stavanger municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. The island lies on the south side of the Boknafjorden in the Rennesøy island group. It lies immediately north of the island of Fjøløy and immediately west of the ...

Stavanger Stavanger, officially the Stavanger Municipality, is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Norway. It is the third largest city and third largest metropolitan area in Norway (through conurbation with neighboring Sandnes) and the ...

municipality,

Rogaland Rogaland () is a Counties of Norway, county in Western Norway, bordering the North Sea to the west and the counties of Vestland to the north, Telemark to the east and Agder to the east and southeast. As of 1 January 2024, it had a population of 49 ...

county. It was built in the late 1200s. Utstein Church is located on the grounds of the abbey. {{CC-notice, by

History

The abbey, dedicated to

Saint Laurence Saint Lawrence or Laurence (; 31 December 225 – 10 August 258) was one of the seven deacons of the city of Rome under Pope Sixtus II who were martyred in the persecution of the Christians that the Roman emperor Valerian ordered in 258. ...

, was founded in its present location during the reign of King

Magnus VI of Norway Magnus the Lawmender (1 or 3 May 1238 – 9 May 1280), also known as Magnus Haakonsson, was King of Norway from 1263 to 1280. One of his greatest achievements was the modernisation and nationalisation of the Norwegian law-code. He was the first ...

(1263–1280). It was a house of

Augustinian Canons The Canons Regular of St. Augustine are Catholic priests who live in community under a rule ( and κανών, ''kanon'', in Greek) and are generally organised into religious orders, differing from both secular canons and other forms of religio ...

. It appears however that this community was the one previously established as St. Olav's Abbey, Stavanger, one of the earliest Augustinian monasteries in Norway if not the very earliest. The exact date of its foundation is unknown, but it was well established by 1160. At its height, up to 12 monks lived at Utstein, with twice as many lay people working on the building, doing the cooking, and doing the farming. The abbey owned extensive lands, and could feed about 250 people a year. It was dissolved in 1537 during the

Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...

and was given in fee to Trond Ivarsson, a nobleman who served as local bailiff.

Present-day

Utstein Abbey is the best-preserved monastery in all of

, still using both the church and the eastern and southern part of the ground floor of the convent buildings. In 1900-1904 major restoration work was carried out on the church, and in 1965 work on the remaining buildings was completed. These renovations put it in a position so that the buildings now serve as venue for concerts, seminars, and conventions. It is now owned entirely by the Utstein Kloster Foundation. The abbey can be reached from

in 30 minutes by road through the undersea Byfjord Tunnel.{{cite web, url=http://www.snl.no/Gerhard_Fischer, title=Gerhard Fischer, author=Store norske leksikon, author-link=Store norske leksikon, language=no, access-date=2015-12-28

Emergency medicine

The Utstein Abbey is also well known for its role in hosting conferences for development of reporting guidelines in emergency medicine, resuscitation, and traumatology. The first Utstein conference was held at the Utstein Abbey in 1990 and resulted in the publication of guidelines for uniform reporting of data from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, the Utstein Style.

Media gallery

Image:Utstein.jpg Image:Utstein kloster 13.jpg Image:Utstein kloster01 (2).jpg Image:Utstein kloster 05.jpg Image:Utstein kloster 07.jpg Image:Utstein kloster 09.jpg Image:Utstein kloster 14.jpg Image:Utstein kloster 08.jpg Image:Utstein küche.jpg Image:Utsteinkloster.jpg

References

{{Reflist

Other sources

* {{cite book, last=Fischer, first=Gerhard, year=1965, title=Utstein kloster: kongsgård, kloster, herregård , location=Stavanger , publisher=Stiftelsen Utstein kloster, language=no * {{cite journal, last=Lexow, first=Jan Hendrich, year=1987, title=Utstein kloster i middelalderen, journal=Årbok: Foreningen til norske fortidsminnesmerkers bevaring, language=no, volume=141, pages=155–168 * {{cite book, last1=Ekroll, first1=Øystein, last2=Stige, first2=Morten, last3=Havran, first3=Jiri, year=2000, title=Middelalder i Stein, location=Oslo, publisher=ARFO, isbn=8291399093, language=no * {{cite book, last=Haug, first=Eldbjørg, year=2005, title=Utstein kloster: og Klosterøys historie, publisher=Stiftelsen Utstein Kloster, isbn=8230305366, location=Klosterøy, language=no

External links

{{Commons category, Utstein kloster
Utstein Abbey website, with images
{{in lang, no
Route from Stavanger
{{in lang, no

{{in lang, no

{{Authority control Augustinian monasteries in Norway Culture in Rogaland Buildings and structures in Rogaland 1265 establishments in Europe Tourist attractions in Rogaland Rennesøy 13th-century establishments in Norway 1537 disestablishments in Norway Monasteries dissolved under the Norwegian Reformation