Sola Chapel

Sola Chapel
Sola kapell
View of the church
58°53′24″N5°37′09″E / 58.89013°N 5.61904°E / 58.89013; 5.61904 Coordinates: 58°53′24″N5°37′09″E / 58.89013°N 5.61904°E / 58.89013; 5.61904
Location	Sola Municipality, Rogaland
Country	Norway
Denomination	Church of Norway
Churchmanship	Evangelical Lutheran
History
Former name(s)	Sola kirke
Status	Parish church
Founded	c. 1140
Consecrated	1955
Architecture
Functional status	Active
Architect(s)	Gustav Helland
Architectural type	Long church
Completed	1955
Specifications
Capacity	300
Materials	Stone
Administration
Diocese	Stavanger bispedømme
Deanery	Tungenes prosti
Parish	Sola
Norwegian Cultural Heritage Site
Type	Church
Status	Not protected
ID	85511

Sola Chapel (Norwegian : Sola kapell; historically: Sola Church) is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Sola Municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. It is located in the village of Solakrossen. It formerly was the main church for the Sola parish which is part of the Tungenes prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Stavanger. The stone church was built in a long church design in 1955 using designs by the architect Gustav Helland. The church seats about 300 people. ^{[1] [2]}

History

View of the rebuilt medieval church

The earliest existing historical records of the church in Sola date back to the year 1273, but it was built around the year 1140. The old stone church had a rectangular nave and a smaller rectangular chancel. There was a tower on the west end.

In 1814, this church served as an election church (Norwegian : valgkirke). ^[3] 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. ^{[3] [4]}

The church served Sola for centuries until 1840 when it was closed. The building stood vacant for 40 years and began to fall apart. In 1880, the building was purchased and turned in to a private home. In 1940, the building was partially demolished and then its ruins sat for decades. ^[5]

In 1955, a new Sola Church was constructed about 500 metres (1,600 ft) to the east. In 1991, the old church ruins were rebuilt in a historical, but modern design using skylights. The old church was rededicated in 1995. ^{[5] [6]}

The congregation used the "new" church for nearly 30 years and it grew significantly since this church was built. In 2015, the parish council approved a plan to build a new Sola Church in the village of Solakrossen. ^[7] The new Sola Church was completed in 2020. ^[8] After the new church was put into use, the name of this church was changed from Sola Church to Sola Chapel. ^[9]

See also

• List of churches in Rogaland

References

1. "Sola kirke". Kirkesøk: Kirkebyggdatabasen. Retrieved 18 October 2020.
2. "Oversikt over Nåværende Kirker" (in Norwegian). KirkeKonsulenten.no. Retrieved 18 October 2020.
3. "Valgkirkene". LokalHistorieWiki.no (in Norwegian). Retrieved 31 January 2021.
4. "Om valgene". Valgene i 1814 (in Norwegian). Arkivverket. Retrieved 31 January 2021.
5. "Sola middelalderkirke / Sola ruinkirke" (in Norwegian). Norwegian Directorate for Cultural Heritage . Retrieved 18 October 2020.
6. "Sola kirkested" (in Norwegian). Norwegian Directorate for Cultural Heritage . Retrieved 18 October 2020.
7. "Ny kirke" (in Norwegian). Sola menighet. Retrieved 22 May 2016.
8. "Søndag vigsles nye Sola kirke" (in Norwegian). Sola kirkelige fellesråd. 13 October 2020.
9. "Bispedømmerådet har vedtatt kirkenavn i Sola". Stavanger bispedømme. 18 September 2020. Retrieved 18 October 2020.