Fana Church ( no, Fana 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 ...

Bergen Municipality Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula o ...

Vestland Vestland is a county in Norway established on 1 January 2020. The county is located in Western Norway and it is centred around the city of Bergen, Norway's second largest city. The administrative centre of the county is the city of Bergen, where t ...

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

Fanahammeren Fanahammeren or Fanahammaren is a residential village area at the eastern end of the Fanafjorden in the city of Bergen in Vestland county, Norway. Fanahammeren lies about south of the city centre. The village area was the administrative centre ...

, a village in the borough of

Fana Fana is a borough of the city of Bergen in Vestland county, Norway. The borough makes up the southeastern part of the municipality of Bergen. The borough was once part of the historic municipality of Fana which was incorporated into Bergen in ...

in the city of

Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula of ...

. It is one of the two churches for the Fana

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

Fana prosti Fana is a borough of the city of Bergen in Vestland county, Norway. The borough makes up the southeastern part of the municipality of Bergen. The borough was once part of the historic municipality of Fana which was incorporated into Bergen in ...

(

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 Bjørgvin The Diocese of Bjørgvin ( no, Bjørgvin bispedømme) is one of the 11 dioceses that make up the Church of Norway. It includes all of the churches located in the county of Vestland in Western Norway. The cathedral city is Bergen, Norway's second ...

. The gray, stone 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 ...

design in the year 1153 using plans drawn up by an unknown

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 ...

. The church seats about 450 people. The existing stone building celebrated its 850-year anniversary in 2003, but the church building history is long and complicated. Historians assert that the church has been rebuilt and enlarged several times.

History

Fana Church was mentioned in writings for the first time in 1228, when

Pope Gregory IX Pope Gregory IX ( la, Gregorius IX; born Ugolino di Conti; c. 1145 or before 1170 – 22 August 1241) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 March 1227 until his death in 1241. He is known for issuing the '' Decre ...

released a conscription to the vicar and brothers at "the holy cross church and hospital in Fana". In the letter, it is mentioned that the bishops in Bergen had let the church be founded again: "de novo fundari". The stone church was likely originally built during the first half of the 12th century. The oldest parts of the existing church building are

Romanesque architecture Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of medieval Europe characterized by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque style, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 11th century, this lat ...

and the walls have been dated to the 12th century. Also, a letter from 1228 referred to the church as already having had several priests since it was founded. During the

middle ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

, the church had a hospital attached to it (probably dating back to the 1200s). This is said to have been located on a mound outside the cemetery, just west of the church (remains of the hospital foundation were recorded as still being visible in 1779). The stone church originally had a rectangular

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

and a narrower, rectangular

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. Ove ...

. In 1644, the church tower was struck by lightning and burned. It was rebuilt afterwards. 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 th ...

which wrote the

Constitution of Norway nb, Kongeriket Norges Grunnlov nn, Kongeriket Noregs Grunnlov , jurisdiction =Kingdom of Norway , date_created =10 April - 16 May 1814 , date_ratified =16 May 1814 , system =Constitutional monarchy , b ...

. 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 E ...

later that year. In 1870, the church was remodeled under the direction of Askild Aase. Before the rebuilding, the church had a wooden

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 ...

with a tower on the roof over the western part of the nave. The renovation including tearing down this church porch and extending the nave to the west by and building a new church porch. After the rebuilding, the church had a stone church porch that had a narrower wooden tower above it. Also during this renovation, the choir was made smaller in order to add two

sacristies A sacristy, also known as a vestry or preparation room, is a room in Christian churches for the keeping of vestments (such as the alb and chasuble) and other church furnishings, sacred vessels, and parish records. The sacristy is usually located ...

in the back. In 1926–1927, another renovation was carried out by the architect Frederik Konow Lund. The old church porch was removed and a new tower and base was built. Also, some of the old windows that had been removed in a previous renovation were added back. The roof was rebuilt and replaced.

Windows

The church has several

stained glass windows Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...

by Bernhard Greve (1886-1962). The windows were designed to tell the history of the church. The artwork in the windows shows the following events: *1228: Fana Church is built after the christening of Norway by

Saint Olaf Olaf II Haraldsson ( – 29 July 1030), later known as Saint Olaf (and traditionally as St. Olave), 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 Perpet ...

. *1228: Conscription from

referenced The Holy Cross Church *1537: The silver cross, other treasures and lead row are removed. *1644: The church burns after having been struck by lightning. *1928: The church is re-consecrated after having been rebuilt.

Legend of the holy silver cross

The legend "The Holy Silver Cross" is connected to Fana church. In 1626, King

Christian IV of Denmark Christian IV (12 April 1577 – 28 February 1648) was King of Denmark and Norway and Duke of Holstein and Schleswig from 1588 until his death in 1648. His reign of 59 years, 330 days is the longest of Danish monarchs and Scandinavian monar ...

commissioned the

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen ( da, Københavns Universitet, KU) is a prestigious public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in ...

to register all historical objects and occurrences in the

. Skonvig, the son of a priest, sent a letter about the legend. Two fishermen found a silver cross outside Korsneset along Korsfjorden. They tried to get the cross on land near Milde. However, the cross was too heavy to carry, so they knew the cross was meant for Fana. When they arrived at

, the cross was easy to carry. They brought it to the church where it was settled at the altar. One of the fishermen was blind, but when he touched the cross and scratched his eyes he gained sight again. The story about the healing cross reached many, and pilgrims visited the church hoping to be healed. It is said that at Krykkjehaugen, a small knoll close to the church, there were crutches and canes that pilgrims had left behind after having been healed at the cross. According to the legend, the priest in Fana burned six horse-loads of crutches in 1546.

Ownership

Since Fana Church was rather big compared to other rural churches, some believe that the church was a county church in its early years. It is believed that the hospital next to the church was shut down around 1300. In 1303, Fana Church was one of 14 royal chapels after having been transferred from the Bishop in Bergen to the Apostle Church in Bergen. Fana Church is one of only 3 remaining royal chapels. In 1723, the royal deed was sold to two men from the parish, Nils Olson Austevoll and Vinsens Nilsson Nedre Titlestad. The church was privately held until 1862, when the parish bought it. The parish decided to rebuild the church in 1870–71. Major changes were done, but after some years it became apparent that rebuilding had been a mistake. In 1920, the architect Frederik Konow Lund (1889–1970) was hired, who tried to restore the church to the

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...

appearance it once had.

Media gallery

Fana kirke, Bergen kommune, Hordland.jpg, Exterior east side view Fana kirke, sett mot vest.jpg, Exterior west side view Fana kirke, dør på sydsiden.jpg, South side door Fana kirke, vindu på sydsiden.jpg, Window on south wall Fana kirke, kirkegården.jpg, View of the church yard Fana Kirke.JPG, View of the front

References

External links

Fana kirke – bygning og landskap
(Marius Fugelsnes, Department of Archaeology and Religion. University in Bergen) {{use dmy dates, date=May 2020 Churches in Bergen Long churches in Norway Stone churches in Norway 12th-century churches in Norway 12th-century establishments in Norway Listed buildings and structures in Norway Millennium sites Norwegian election church