Flosta Church ( no, Flosta 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

Arendal Municipality Arendal () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Agder counties of Norway, county in southeastern Norway. Arendal belongs to the Districts of Norway, region of Southern Norway, Sørlandet. The administrative centre of the munici ...

Agder Agder is a county (''fylke'') and traditional region in the southern part of Norway. The county was established on 1 January 2020, when the old Vest-Agder and Aust-Agder counties were merged. Since the early 1900s, the term Sørlandet ("south ...

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 just north of the village of Narestø on the island of

Flostaøya Flostaøya is an island in Arendal municipality in Agder county, Norway. The island lies along the Skaggerak coast between the islands of Tromøy to the southwest and Tverrdalsøya to the northeast. The island lies about northeast of the tow ...

wooden church was built in a long church design in 1632 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 ...

(it was later converted to 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). The church seats about 290 people.

History

The earliest existing historical records of the church date back to the year 1467, but the church was not new that year. The old church was possibly built around the year 1300. Not much is known about the old church, but in 1628, the church was described as old and dilapidated. In 1632, the church was torn down and replaced with a new building on the same site. Around 1700, the church was expanded and got a new

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 ...

on the east side of the building. In 1735-1736 a bell tower was added on the west end of the building. In 1739, there was a small fire in the church, but there was little damage. In 1747, the church was expanded by adding two wings on the north and south sides to create a

design. The builder Ole Nielsen Weierholt led this work. 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. There was another small fire in the building in 1824. In 1864, the church was enlarged again with Anders Thorbjørnsen as builder. The roof was raised higher and the building was extended to the east. The choir was moved into the new addition on the east end. During this renovation, the church was given a

neo-Gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

design. In 1976, the church was restored and renovated with consultation by National Heritage Board and the interior was brought back to its 1747 look. The choir was moved to the north end of the church and the east end (where the choir used to be) was turned into a church hall. There were small fires in the church 1980 and again in 1988, but neither caused major damage.

Media gallery

Flosta kirke front id 84165.jpg Flosta kirke, Aust-Agder - Riksantikvaren-T182 01 0056.jpg Flosta kirke alter id 84165.jpg Flosta kirke prekestol id 84165.jpg Flosta kirke votiv id 84165.jpg Flosta kirke vindfloy id 84165.jpg

References

{{use dmy dates, date=January 2021 Buildings and structures in Arendal Churches in Agder Wooden churches in Norway Cruciform churches in Norway 17th-century Church of Norway church buildings Churches completed in 1632 14th-century establishments in Norway Norwegian election church

History

Media gallery

See also

References