Dirdal Church ( no, Dirdal 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 The Church of Norway ( nb, Den norske kirke, nn, Den norske kyrkja, se, Norgga girku, sma, Nöörjen gærhkoe) is an evangelical Lutheran denomination of Protestant Christianity and by far the largest Christian church in Norway. The church b ...

Gjesdal Municipality Gjesdal is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Jæren. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Ålgår ...

Rogaland Rogaland () is a Counties of Norway, county in Western Norway, bordering the North Sea to the west and the counties of Vestland to the north, Vestfold og Telemark to the east and Agder to the east and southeast. In 2020, it had a population of 47 ...

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 t ...

. It is located in the village of

Dirdal Dirdal is a village in Gjesdal municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. The village is located where the Frafjorden joins the main Høgsfjorden. The village lies at the end of the ''Dirdalen'' valley, which stretches to the southeast from Dirdal ...

. It is one of the three churches for the Gjesdal

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 ...

which is part of the

Jæren prosti This list of churches in Rogaland is a list of the Church of Norway churches in Rogaland county, Norway. The churches are all part of the Diocese of Stavanger. The diocese is based at the Stavanger Cathedral in the city of Stavanger. The list ...

(

deanery A deanery (or decanate) is an ecclesiastical entity in the Roman 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 residenc ...

) in the

Diocese of Stavanger The Diocese of Stavanger ( no, Stavanger bispedømme) is a diocese in the Church of Norway. It covers all of Rogaland county in western Norway. The cathedral city is Stavanger, where the Stavanger Cathedral is located. The bishop is Anne Li ...

. The white, wooden church was built in a

long church Church building in Norway began when Christianity was established there around the year 1000. The first buildings may have been post churches erected in the 10th or 11th century, but the evidence is inconclusive. For instance under Urnes Stave C ...

style in 1903 using designs 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 ...

Ola Knutson Moluf. The church seats about 175 people.

History

In 1889, the villagers of Dirdal received permission to build a cemetery for the residents of the area. Demand for a local church was growing due to the long distances the residents had to travel to get to the nearby

Forsand Church Forsand Church ( no, Forsand kyrkje) is a parish church of the Church of Norway in the eastern part of the large Sandnes Municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. It is located in the village of Forsand, near the mouth to the Lysefjorden. It is ...

. In 1903, the village received permission to build 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. Often a chapel of ease is deliberately bu ...

. The new chapel was designed by Ola Knutson Moluf who was from

Frafjord Frafjord is a village and farming community in the municipality of Gjesdal in Rogaland county, Norway. It is located in the Frafjorddalen valley, at the innermost end of the Frafjorden, a branch of the larger Høgsfjorden. The village had about 1 ...

. The chapel was

consecrate Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service. The word ''consecration'' literally means "association with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different grou ...

d on 9 December 1903. In 2005, the chapel was re-titled as Dirdal Church.

References

{{use dmy dates, date=September 2020 Gjesdal Churches in Rogaland Wooden churches in Norway 20th-century Church of Norway church buildings Churches completed in 1903 1903 establishments in Norway

History

See also

References