St. Olaf's Church The English Church | |
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61°12′27″N6°32′4″E / 61.20750°N 6.53444°E | |
Location | Kong Beles veg 35, 6899 Balestrand |
Country | Norway |
Denomination | Church of England |
History | |
Dedication | Saint Olaf |
Architecture | |
Architect(s) | Jens Zetlitz Monrad Kielland |
Style | Dragestil Stave church (imitation) |
Years built | 1897 |
Specifications | |
Materials | Wood |
Administration | |
Diocese | Diocese of Gibraltar in Europe |
Parish | Summer seasonal Chaplaincy |
St. Olaf's Church (Nynorsk : St. Olafs kyrkje and Den engelske kyrkja, "The English Church") is an Anglican church in the village of Balestrand in Sogndal Municipality in the county of Vestland in Norway. The church was built in 1897 as a stave church imitation and has 95 seats.
St. Olaf's Church is notable as the inspiration for the chapel in Elsa's coronation scene in the 2013 Disney film Frozen. [1] [2]
Balestrand was a popular site for British tourists in the latter half of the 19th century. One of these was the English clergyman's daughter and climbing pioneer, Margaret Sophia Green. She got along very well with the Norwegians and loved the Norwegian mountains. In 1890, Margaret married Knut Kvikne, whose family owned the Kviknes Hotel in Balestrand. Shortly after her marriage, Margaret was diagnosed with tuberculosis; she died in 1894. Before she died, she told her husband that she had a dream of building an English church in Balestrand. As a legacy to his wife, Knut Kvikne separated a plot from the Kviknes Hotel's large plots, and with the help of generous donations from two American women, he began to build. The church was consecrated just three years after Margaret's death.
The church looks from the outside like a stave church and has horizontal paneling. It has two spiers, one over the choir, and a bell tower over the ridge turret in the middle of the nave. The ridge turret is decorated with two dragon heads, as on the ancient stave churches.
A portrait of Margaret Sophia Green Kvikne hangs inside the church, along with a memorial brass plate. The inscription is The Mountains shall bring Peace, taken from Psalm 72, a Bible verse with significance for the mountaineering Margaret. The altarpiece was painted by Emma Pastor Normann, dates from 1897 and shows the risen Christ. The church has a banner showing Saint Olaf, probably made in 1897. The church room is also decorated with wood carvings.
In the choir there are nine stained glass windows with saints as a theme. Of these saints there are three Norwegian saints; St. Olaf, St. Hallvard and St. Sunniva. The others are Mary, mother of Jesus, St. Columba, St. Clement, St. Bride, St. Swithun and St. George.
During the summer the church is used by the Anglican church for services in English every Sunday. There are also services in weekdays and weekends when priests are available. At other times of the year there are worship services when it is agreed.
The church is run economically on donations from tourists, and the priests who serve in the church are English speakers who work for free. The owners of the Kvicknes Hotel provide the visiting priests free room and board, as they have since the church was consecrated. Janitorial and supervision services for the church building are carried out by the hotel.
The church has over the years been a popular location for weddings, especially by Norwegian-British bridal couples.
Magnus Olafsson, better known as Magnus the Good, was King of Norway from 1035 and King of Denmark from 1042 until his death in 1047.
Olaf II Haraldsson, also Olav Haraldsson and Olaf the Stout, later known as Saint Olaf and Olaf the Holy, was King of Norway from 1015 to 1028. Son of Harald Grenske, a petty king in Vestfold, Norway, he was posthumously given the title Rex Perpetuus Norvegiae and canonised at Nidaros (Trondheim) by Bishop Grimketel, one year after his death in the Battle of Stiklestad on 29 July 1030. His remains were enshrined in Nidaros Cathedral, built over his burial site. His sainthood encouraged the widespread adoption of Christianity by Scandinavia's Vikings/Norsemen.
Vik is a municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is located on the southern shore of the Sognefjorden in the traditional district of Sogn. The administrative center of Vik is the village of Vikøyri. Other villages in the municipality include Feios, Fresvik, Nese, and Vangsnes.
Balestrand is a former municipality in Sogn og Fjordane county, Norway. It was located on the northern shore of the Sognefjorden in the traditional district of Sogn. The administrative center was the village of Balestrand. Other villages in the municipality included Ese, Kvamme, Låne, Sæle, Tjugum, and Vetlefjorden.
Selje is a former municipality in the old Sogn og Fjordane county, Norway and was located in the traditional district of Nordfjord. The village of Selje was the administrative center this municipality. and neighborhoods in the municipality included Barmen, Ervik, Flatraket, Hoddevik, Hoddevika, Håvik, and Leikanger. On 1 January 2020 the municipality became part of the new Stad Municipality in the newly formed Vestland county.
Olav Aukrust was a Norwegian poet and teacher. He popularized the use of Nynorsk as a literary language and is most commonly associated with his poem Himmelvarden (1916).
Lom is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Fossbergom. Another village area in Lom is Elvesæter.
Grip Stave Church is a historic parish church of the Church of Norway in Kristiansund Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is located in the now-abandoned fishing village of Grip on the small island of Grip about 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) northwest of the town of Kristiansund. It is an annex church for the Kristiansund parish which is part of the Ytre Nordmøre prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Møre. The white, wooden church was built in a rectangular stave church style in 1470 by an unknown architect.
Saint Sunniva is the patron saint of the Norwegian Church of Norway Diocese of Bjørgvin, as well as all of Western Norway.
Vang Stave Church or Mountain Church of Our Savior is a stave church located in Karpacz in the Karkonosze mountains in Poland. It was transferred to its present location from Vang in the Valdres region of Norway and re-erected in 1842. A notable tourist attraction, it is Poland's only stave church. It serves as a parish church of the Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Poland.
Hans Dahl was a Norwegian painter. He was best known for his paintings of Norwegian fjords and surrounding landscapes.
Arnstein Rynning Arneberg was a Norwegian architect. He was active professionally for 50 years and is often considered the leading architect in Norway of his time.
The Catholic Church in Norway is part of the worldwide Catholic Church. As of May 2014, there were over 151,000 registered Catholics in Norway. It is claimed there are many Catholics who are not registered with their personal identification number and who are not reported by the local church; the full number may be as high as 230,000, 70% of whom were born abroad. That constitutes about 5% of the population, making Norway the most Catholic country in Nordic Europe.
Selja Abbey was a Benedictine monastery located on the island of Selja in the municipality of Stad, Vestland, Norway. The island of Selja, which has been formerly known as Sellø or Selø, is located 15 minutes by boat from Selje's mainland.
Olaf Offerdahl was apostolic administrator for Norway from 1928 to March 1930, when he was promoted to apostolic vicar, which he remained until his death later the same year.
Stangvik Church is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Surnadal Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is located in the village of Stangvik on the shores of the Stangvikfjorden. It is the church for the Stangvik parish which is part of the Indre Nordmøre prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Møre. The white, wooden church was built in a long church design in 1897 using plans drawn up by the architect Karl Norum and the builder Lars Mogstad. The church seats about 600 people, making it the largest church in Nordmøre.
Balestrand is a village in Sogndal Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The village is located on the northern shore of the Sognefjorden, at the mouth of the small Esefjorden. It sits about 20 kilometres (12 mi) west of the village area of Leikanger-Hermansverk and about 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) northwest of the village of Vangsnes. The small village of Tjugum lies less than 700 metres (2,300 ft) north of Balestrand, across the Esefjorden. The local Tjugum Church is located there, serving the people of the village of Balestrand.
Hove Church is a historic parish church of the Church of Norway in Vik Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is located in the village of Vikøyri on the Arnafjord, an arm of the Sognefjord. It was historically the main church for Hove parish in the Diocese of Bjørgvin. The gray, stone church was built in a long church design in a Romanesque style around the year 1170 using plans drawn up by unknown architect. Since about 2016 the church has been the base for the Hove Church Music Festival run by local cultural personality, Jens Brekke, and an American early music chamber choir. The church seats about 35 people.
Kviknes Hotel is a hotel, located by the Sognefjord in Sogndal Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The hotel has 195 rooms in total which are divided between two buildings. The historic building was completed in 1913 and has 25 rooms, while the building from the 1960s contains 165 rooms. The hotel is a member of the Norwegian association of historic hotels and restaurants – De historiske.