Heggjabygda Church ( no, Heggjabygda kyrkje) is a parish church 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 ...

in Stad Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is located in the village of Heggjabygda. It is the church for the Eid parish which is part of the Nordfjord prosti (

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 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 ...

design in 1936 using plans drawn up by the architect Anders Karlsen. The church seats about 200 people.

History

The people of Heggjabygda were historically part of the Hornindal Church parish. Being located on the opposite side of the large lake Hornindalsvatnet, the area was quite remote. In 1913, the parish priest asked permission from the diocese to build a cemetery at Heggjabygda. In 1918 the cemetery was built. Soon after, there was a local desire to build a chapel by the cemetery. Fundraising work began soon after, but it took several years to raise the money. The parish hired the architect Anders Karlsen to design the chapel and they hired Ivar O. Melheim to be the lead builder. Construction began in 1934. It is said that the villagers provided the stone and the timber for the construction. The church was

consecrated 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 ...

on 21 October 1936. In 1964, the Heggjabygda area was transferred to Eid Municipality and prestegjeld. In 1997, the chapel was upgraded to that of a parish church and it became part of the Eid parish ().

References

{{use dmy dates, date=August 2021 Stad, Norway Churches in Vestland Long churches in Norway Wooden churches in Norway 20th-century Church of Norway church buildings Churches completed in 1936 1936 establishments in Norway

History

See also

References