Holsen Church

Holsen Church
Holsen kyrkje
View of the church
61°25′07″N6°09′16″E / 61.4187177979°N 6.15431383252°E / 61.4187177979; 6.15431383252
Location	Sunnfjord Municipality, Vestland
Country	Norway
Denomination	Church of Norway
Previous denomination	Catholic Church
Churchmanship	Evangelical Lutheran
History
Status	Parish church
Founded	13th century
Consecrated	11 Dec 1861
Architecture
Functional status	Active
Architect(s)	Jacob Wilhelm Nordan
Architectural type	Long church
Completed	1861(163 years ago) (1861)
Specifications
Capacity	200
Materials	Wood
Administration
Diocese	Bjørgvin bispedømme
Deanery	Sunnfjord prosti
Parish	Holsen og Haukedalen
Norwegian Cultural Heritage Site
Type	Church
Status	Listed
ID	84612

Holsen Church (Norwegian : Holsen kyrkje) is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Sunnfjord Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is located in the village of Holsen. It is one of the two churches for the Holsen og Haukedalen parish which is part of the Sunnfjord prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Bjørgvin. The white, wooden church was built in a long church style in 1861 using designs by the architect Jacob Wilhelm Nordan. The church seats about 200 people. ^{[1] [2]}

History

The earliest existing historical records of the church date back to the year 1330, but the church was not new that year. The first church in Holsen was likely a wooden stave church that was located about 100 metres (330 ft) southeast of the present church site. The church was likely built during the 13th century. From the 13th century until the 17th century, the people of the nearby Haukedalen valley also belonged to the Holsen Church parish, before their own Haukedalen Church was built in the mid-1600s.The nearly 500-year-old church was one of the last stave churches that was still standing in the Sunnfjord district when it was torn down around 1722. ^{[3] [4] [5]}

After the old church was torn down in 1722, a new timber-framed church was built about 100 metres (330 ft) to the northwest. The old church site was somewhat of a wetland area and it was prone to flooding. The new church sits near the mouth of the river Norddøla and the lake Holsavatnet. In 1861, the small timber-framed church was torn down and a new church was built on the same site. The new building was built by Gjert Lien according to drawings by Jacob Wilhelm Nordan. The new church was consecrated on 11 December 1861 by the local Dean Johan Christie. ^{[4] [5] [6]}

Building

The church has a symmetrical appearance, with a steeple in the middle of the roof over the center of the nave. The porch to the west and the vestry to the east are equal in size. The interior walls are not painted, there is no gallery, and the ceiling is flat and painted blue. On each long side there are three large windows. The church remained unchanged until 1936, when the ceiling, mouldings, altar rail, and pulpit were given new colours. Angular braces, which supported the ceiling and the walls, were removed, and the church interior became more open. Behind the simple wooden cross on the altar a canopy with stars against a blue background was installed. ^[4]

See also

• List of churches in Bjørgvin

References

1. "Holsen kyrkje". Kirkesøk: Kirkebyggdatabasen. Retrieved 10 November 2019.
2. "Oversikt over Nåværende Kirker" (in Norwegian). KirkeKonsulenten.no. Retrieved 10 November 2019.
3. "Holsen gamle kyrkjestad" (in Norwegian). Norwegian Directorate for Cultural Heritage . Retrieved 11 November 2019.
4. Henden Aaraas, Margrethe; Vengen, Sigurd; Gjerde, Anders. "Holsen kyrkje" (in Norwegian). Fylkesarkivet. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
5. "Holsen kirke". Norges-Kirker.no (in Norwegian). Retrieved 12 September 2021.
6. "Holsen kyrkjestad" (in Norwegian). Norwegian Directorate for Cultural Heritage . Retrieved 11 November 2019.