Fåvang Stave Church ( no, Fåvang stavkyrkje) 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 ...

Ringebu Municipality is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Vålebru (the village is also known as ''Ringebu''). The municipality ...

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 t ...

. It is located just south of the village of

Fåvang Fåvang is a village in Ringebu Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. The village is located in the Gudbrandsdal valley, along the Gudbrandsdalslågen river, about north of the town of Lillehammer. The European route E6 highway runs through ...

. It is the main church for the Fåvang

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

Sør-Gudbrandsdal prosti The list of churches in Hamar is a list of the Church of Norway churches in the Diocese of Hamar which includes all of Innlandet county (plus two municipalities in Viken county) in Norway. The list is divided into several sections, one for each d ...

(

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 Hamar The Diocese of Hamar ( no, Hamar Bispedømme) is a diocese within the Church of Norway. The Diocese of Hamar includes all of the churches in Innlandet county plus the churches in Lunner in Viken county. Administratively, the diocese is divided ...

. The brown, 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 described ...

design in the year 1630 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 ...

Werner Olsen Werner Olsen ( 1600 – 1682) was a Norwegian church builder and a tower builder with a legendary reputation. He is also known as Werner Olsen Skurdal in reference to the last residence he lived at. Life Olsen was born in Ringsaker. He lived durin ...

. The church seats about 170 people.

History

The first church in Fåvang was built as 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 a ...

in the late 13th century on the present site of the church (some records state that the church first was built on another site, but there is no conclusive evidence of this). This stave church was a wooden

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 ...

. During the period 1627–1630, Fåvang church was just about completely rebuilt as well as enlarged. A nearby 11th-century

was recently torn down and the materials from that old church plus materials from the old Fåvang Stave Church were reused in the rebuilding of the Fåvang Stave Church. Consequently, the oldest materials of the present church can date back to about 1150–1250. According to tradition, the reconstruction was supervised by master-builder

(ca. 1600–1682), who was also responsible for reconstruction of

Ringebu Stave Church Ringebu Stave Church ( no, Ringebu stavkyrkje) is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Ringebu Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the village of Ringebu in the Gudbrandsdalen valley. It is the church for the Ringebu ...

and

Lom Stave Church Lom Stave Church ( no, Lom stavkyrkje) is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Lom municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the village of Fossbergom in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. It is the church for the L ...

. During this period of rebuilding, the staves were removed and it was reconstructed as a

timber-framed Timber framing (german: Holzfachwerk) and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden ...

building with a

floor plan. The church has a number of historic furnishings. Among other things the church has

votives A votive offering or votive deposit is one or more objects displayed or deposited, without the intention of recovery or use, in a sacred place for religious purposes. Such items are a feature of modern and ancient societies and are generally ...

from 1684 to 1694. The altar and pulpit are of

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...

style, both dated to the 17th century. A painting of the

Christ Child The Christ Child, also known as Divine Infant, Baby Jesus, Infant Jesus, the Divine Child, Child Jesus, the Holy Child, Santo Niño, and to some as Señor Noemi refers to Jesus Christ from his nativity to age 12. The four canonical gospels, a ...

is from 1732. The church has been through several reconstructions. In 1900–1901, the church received new exterior siding and the

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 ...

were rebuilt and enlarged. At that time, the church was painted white. From 1949 to 1951, the church was again restored, this time under the direction of architect

Jens Gram Dunker Jens Gram Dunker (February 17, 1892 – August 25, 1981) was a Norwegian architect. He was noted for his work in the transition between neo-classicism and functionalism in Norwegian architecture. Dunker made significant contributions to No ...

. The windows were replaced and many of the interior furnishings were changed. The church was re-consecrated on 9 September 1951. Because it has been so extensively modified over the centuries, it is often called a stave church, but it is not always counted among the true, historic Norwegian stave churches.

Media gallery

Stavkirkje Favang Norway (1).jpg Stavkirkje Favang Norway (3).jpg Faavang kirkested - Korstadkampen 978 m IMG 6786.jpg Fåvang Church (kirke) c. 1630, at Tromsnesvegen, Fåvang, Ringebu, Gudbrandsdalen, Oppland, Norway. Graveyard (kirkegård), cemetery wreaths, funeral flowers, springtime, Korstadkampen, etc. 2017-04-05 4074.jpg Fåvang Church (kirke) c. 1630, at Tromsnesvegen, Fåvang, Ringebu, Gudbrandsdalen, Oppland, Norway. Graveyard (kirkegård), gate, springtime, stone fence, farms, etc. 2017-04-05 4083.jpg Fåvang Church (kirke) c. 1630, at Tromsnesvegen, Fåvang, Ringebu, Gudbrandsdalen, Oppland, Norway. Korstadkampen, etc. 2017-04-05 4059.jpg Fåvang kirke.JPG Fåvang stavkirke - an10071112121132.jpg

References

External links

Fåvang Sogn website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Favang Stave Church Stave churches in Norway Ringebu Churches in Sør-Gudbrandsdal Deanery Churches in Innlandet Cruciform churches in Norway Wooden churches in Norway 17th-century Church of Norway church buildings Churches completed in 1630 13th-century establishments in Norway

History

Media gallery

See also

References

Further reading

External links