Åmotsdal Church () is a

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...

of the

Church of Norway The Church of Norway (, , , ) is an Lutheranism, evangelical Lutheran denomination of Protestant Christianity and by far the largest Christian church in Norway. Christianity became the state religion of Norway around 1020, and was established a ...

in Seljord Municipality in

Telemark Telemark () is a Counties of Norway, county and a current electoral district in Norway. Telemark borders the counties of Vestfold, Buskerud, Vestland, Rogaland and Agder. In 2020, Telemark merged with the county of Vestfold to form the county o ...

county,

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 ...

. It is located in the village of

Åmotsdal Åmotsdal is a valley and small rural village in the municipality of Seljord in Telemark county, Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Euro ...

. It is one of the churches for the Seljord

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

which is part of the Øvre Telemark prosti (

deanery A deanery (or decanate) is an ecclesiastical entity in the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Anglican Communion, the Evangelical Church in Germany, and the Church of Norway. A deanery is either the jurisdiction or residence of ...

) in the Diocese of Agder og Telemark. The white, wooden church was built in a

cruciform A cruciform is a physical manifestation resembling a common cross or Christian cross. These include architectural shapes, biology, art, and design. Cruciform architectural plan Christian churches are commonly described as having a cruciform ...

design in 1792 using plans drawn up by the

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

Jarand Aasmundson Rønjom. The church seats about 200 people.

History

The earliest existing historical records of the church date back to the year 1468, but the church was not new that year. The first church in Åmotsdal was a wooden

stave church A stave church is a medieval wooden Christian church building once common in north-western Europe. The name derives from the building's structure of post and lintel construction, a type of timber framing where the load-bearing ore-pine posts ...

that may have been built in the 13th century. The old church was built in the old style with open air corridors surrounding the building. Historically, the church was an

annex chapel A chapel of ease (or chapel-of-ease) is a church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently, generally due to travel distance. Often a ...

under the main Hjartdal Church and the priest would visit Åmotsdal Church about once every 4 or 5 weeks. In 1723, the church was sold into private ownership during the

Norwegian church sale The Norwegian church sale () was a comprehensive and systematic sale of most of the church properties in Norway during the 1720s. The purpose of this sale was the intention of improving the poor public finances in the Kingdom of Denmark-Norway aft ...

when the King sold the churches to pay off debts from the

Great Northern War In the Great Northern War (1700–1721) a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in Northern Europe, Northern, Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe. The initial leaders of the ant ...

. The church fell into disrepair and the church was in need of significant repair or replacement. A major rebuilding took place in 1744, but it was only temporary. Around 1791, the old church was torn down and a new

timber-framed Timber framing () and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy Beam (structure), timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and Woodworking joints, joined timbers with joints secure ...

building was built on the same site. Jarand Aasmundson Rønjom designed and built the new church. The new building was

consecrated Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects (a ...

in 1792. The church has a pulpit altar which takes up most of the eastern

transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform ("cross-shaped") cruciform plan, churches, in particular within the Romanesque architecture, Romanesque a ...

, so the church essentially has a T-shape. There have been a few repairs and updates over the years, but the church has maintained the same design and appearance. In 1915, a second

pulpit A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, accesse ...

on the floor was installed. In 1959–1960, a

church porch A church porch is a room-like structure at a church's main entrance. A porch protects from the weather to some extent. Some porches have an outer door, others a simple gate, and in some cases the outer opening is not closed in any way. The porch ...

was added at the main entrance.

Media gallery

Seljord, Åmotsdal kyrkje SA 03.jpg Seljord, Åmotsdal kyrkje S 02.JPG Seljord, Åmotsdal kyrkje NV 01.jpg File:Church-inside.jpg File:Church information.jpg FV503 Åmotsdal kirke.jpg Cemetery 3 (3829672617).jpg

References

{{use dmy dates, date=December 2022 Seljord Churches in Telemark Cruciform churches in Norway Wooden churches in Norway 18th-century Church of Norway church buildings Churches completed in 1792 13th-century establishments in Norway

History

Media gallery

See also

References