Aurdal Church

Aurdal Church
Aurdal kirke
View of the church
60°55′29″N9°24′49″E / 60.9246454331°N 9.413475394248°E / 60.9246454331; 9.413475394248
Location	Nord-Aurdal, Innlandet
Country	Norway
Denomination	Church of Norway
Previous denomination	Catholic Church
Churchmanship	Evangelical Lutheran
History
Status	Parish church
Founded	12th century
Consecrated	22 February 1737
Architecture
Functional status	Active
Architect(s)	Svend Tråseth
Architectural type	Cruciform
Completed	1736(288 years ago) (1736)
Specifications
Capacity	250
Materials	Wood
Administration
Diocese	Hamar bispedømme
Deanery	Valdres prosti
Parish	Aurdal
Norwegian Cultural Heritage Site
Type	Church
Status	Automatically protected
ID	83813

Aurdal Church (Norwegian : Aurdal kirke) is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Nord-Aurdal Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the village of Aurdal. It is the church for the Aurdal parish which is part of the Valdres prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Hamar. The white, wooden church was built in a cruciform design in 1736 using plans drawn up by the architect Svend Tråseth. The church seats about 250 people. ^{[1] [2]}

History

The earliest existing historical records of the church date back to the year 1327, but the church was not built that year. The first church in Aurdal was a wooden stave church that was likely built during the 12th century (a baptismal font in the church has been dated to the years 1150–1200, so that is likely the time the church was first built). As early as 1665, there were plans for replacing the old stave church, but they were not acted upon for some time. Svend Tråseth was hired to design and build the new church. The old church was torn down in 1735 and construction of the new church took place in 1735–1736 on the same site as the old church. The new church was a wooden cruciform building with a central tower. The new building was consecrated on 22 February 1737 by the parish priest Peter Abelsted. ^{[3] [4] [5]}

In 1814, this church served as an election church (Norwegian : valgkirke). ^{[6] [7]} Together with more than 300 other parish churches across Norway, it was a polling station for elections to the 1814 Norwegian Constituent Assembly which wrote the Constitution of Norway. This was Norway's first national elections. Each church parish was a constituency that elected people called "electors" who later met together in each county to elect the representatives for the assembly that was to meet in Eidsvoll later that year. ^{[6] [8]}

In 1866, major structural repairs were carried out on the church tower and the foundation wall. In 1892, the church underwent a comprehensive repair which included the construction of a sacristy that was built on the east end of the choir which was in the eastern cross-arm. ^[5]

Media gallery

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See also

• List of churches in Hamar

References

1. "Aurdal kirke". Kirkesøk: Kirkebyggdatabasen. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
2. "Oversikt over Nåværende Kirker" (in Norwegian). KirkeKonsulenten.no. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
3. "Aurdal kirkested" (in Norwegian). Norwegian Directorate for Cultural Heritage . Retrieved 15 January 2022.
4. "Aurdal kirke". Norges-Kirker.no (in Norwegian). Retrieved 15 January 2022.
5. Christie, Sigrid; Storsletten, Ola; Hoff, Anna Marte. "Aurdal kirke" (in Norwegian). Norges Kirker. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
6. "Valgkirkene". LokalHistorieWiki.no (in Norwegian). Retrieved 15 January 2022.
7. "Valgkartet". Valgene i 1814 (in Norwegian). Arkivverket. Archived from the original on 24 June 2021. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
8. "Om valgene". Valgene i 1814 (in Norwegian). Arkivverket. Archived from the original on 24 June 2021. Retrieved 15 January 2022.