Aurdal Church ( no, Aurdal kirke) is a

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the 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 community activities, ...

of the Church of Norway in

Nord-Aurdal Municipality Nord-Aurdal is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Valdres. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town Fagernes. Other urban centres in Nord-Aurdal include the villages of Aurd ...

Innlandet Innlandet is a county in Norway. It was created on 1 January 2020 with the merger of the old counties of Oppland and Hedmark (the municipalities of Jevnaker and Lunner were transferred to the neighboring county of Viken on the same date). The ...

county,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

. It is located in the village of

Aurdal Aurdal is a village in Nord-Aurdal Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. The village is located along the European route E16 highway about to the northwest of the village of Bagn (in Sør-Aurdal) and about to the southeast of the town of F ...

. It is the church for the Aurdal

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one o ...

which is part of the Valdres prosti ( deanery) in the Diocese of Hamar. The white, wooden church was built in a

cruciform Cruciform is a term for physical manifestations resembling a common cross or Christian cross. The label can be extended to architectural shapes, biology, art, and design. Cruciform architectural plan Christian churches are commonly describe ...

design in 1736 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 ...

Svend Tråseth Svend Tråseth (1699—1769) was a Norwegian architect and builder in the Gudbrandsdalen and Valdres areas of Eastern Norway. At that time in Norway, spellings had not been standardized, so his last name is often spelled differently including ...

. The church seats about 250 people.

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 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 ar ...

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.

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

building with a central tower. The new building was consecrated on 22 February 1737 by the parish priest Peter Abelsted. In 1814, this church served as an

election church An election church ( no, valgkirke) is a term used for approximately 300 churches in Norway that were used as polling stations during the elections to the Norwegian Constituent Assembly at Eidsvoll in 1814. This was Norway's first national election ...

( no, valgkirke). Together with more than 300 other parish churches across Norway, it was a polling station for elections to the 1814

Norwegian Constituent Assembly The Norwegian Constituent Assembly (in Norwegian ''Grunnlovsforsamlingen'', also known as ''Riksforsamlingen'') is the name given to the 1814 constitutional assembly at Eidsvoll in Norway, that adopted the Norwegian Constitution and formalised t ...

which wrote the Constitution of Norway. This was Norway's first national elections. Each

church parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

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 Eidsvoll (; sometimes written as ''Eidsvold'') is a municipality in Akershus in Viken county, Norway. It is part of the Romerike traditional region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Sundet. General information ...

later that year. 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 A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which sp ...

which was in the eastern cross-arm.

Media gallery

Aurdal kirke 2010.jpg Valdresbanen og Nord-Aurdal kirke.jpg Parti fra Aurdal, Valders, ca 1914.jpg NORD-AURDAL KIRKE - an10071112140001.jpg Aurdal Station, Valdresbanen (8677688280).jpg

References

{{use dmy dates, date=January 2022 Nord-Aurdal Churches in Innlandet Cruciform churches in Norway Wooden churches in Norway 18th-century Church of Norway church buildings Churches completed in 1736 12th-century establishments in Norway Norwegian election church

History

Media gallery

See also

References