Eidskog Church ( no, Eidskog 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

Eidskog Municipality Eidskog is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Vinger. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Skotterud. Other villages in the municipality include Magnor, Matrand, ...

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 Matrand. It is one of the churches for the Eidskog

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 Solør, Vinger og Odal 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 1665 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 ...

Knut Mortensen. The church seats about 350 people.

History

The earliest existing historical records of the church date back to the year 1225 in the book '' Hákonar saga Hákonarsonar'' in connection with King Hákon Hákonarson's journey to

Värmland Värmland () also known as Wermeland, is a '' landskap'' (historical province) in west-central Sweden. It borders Västergötland, Dalsland, Dalarna, Västmanland, and Närke, and is bounded by Norway in the west. Latin name versions are '' ...

in 1225. This is not the year of construction, however. The first church in Eidskog 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 in the late 11th century. Shortly after the Black Death swept through Norway in 1349–1350, the old Eidskog Church burned down. A new wooden

was constructed on the same site. This new church was much larger than its predecessor. In 1665, the old church was torn down and a new

log building was constructed on the same site. It was designed and built by Knut Mortensen. A few years earlier, Mortensen had built the somewhat smaller

Kvikne Church Kvikne Church ( no, Kvikne kyrkje) is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Nord-Fron Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the village of Kvikne. It is the church for the Kvikne parish which is part of the Nord-Gudbran ...

, and he used the same floor plan and design for this church as well. In 1861, a new tower was constructed. This somewhat skewed central tower was built by Oluf Wernersen (son of Werner Olsen). The church was originally built with no exterior siding to cover the log walls, but was later given vertical wood panels for siding. From 1814 to 1856, there were visible bullet marks in the siding after nearby skirmishes during the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

. In 1856, the church siding was replaced and the roof was redone with slate tiles.

Media gallery

2268 Fra Matrand - no-nb digifoto 20150724 00072 bldsa PK27918b.jpg 2269 Eidskog kirke - no-nb digifoto 20150724 00065 bldsa PK27907.jpg Eidskog kirke T105 01 0021.jpg

References

{{use dmy dates, date=December 2021 Eidskog Churches in Innlandet Cruciform churches in Norway Wooden churches in Norway 17th-century Church of Norway church buildings Churches completed in 1665 11th-century establishments in Norway

History

Media gallery

See also

References