Hillesøy Church ( no, Hillesøy 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

Tromsø Municipality Tromsø (, , ; se, Romsa ; fkv, Tromssa; sv, Tromsö) is a municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Tromsø. Tromsø lies in Northern Norway. The municipality is the 2 ...

Troms og Finnmark Troms og Finnmark (; sme, Romsa ja Finnmárku ; fkv, Tromssa ja Finmarkku; fi, Tromssa ja Finnmark, lit. Troms and Finnmark in English), is a county in northern Norway that was established on 1 January 2020 as the result of a regional reform. ...

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 Brensholmen area on the western part of the island of Kvaløya. It is the church for the Hillesøy

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 Tromsø domprosti (arch- deanery) in the

Diocese of Nord-Hålogaland Nord-Hålogaland ( no, Nord-Hålogaland bispedømme) is a diocese in the Church of Norway. It covers the Church of Norway churches in Troms og Finnmark county as well as in the territory of Svalbard. The diocese is seated in the city of Trom ...

. The white, wooden church was built in a long church style in 1889 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 ...

D.G. Evjen. The church seats about 300 people.

History

The earliest existing historical records of the church date back to the year 1589, but the church is likely much older. The church was likely built here before the first church was built on the nearby island of

Tromsøya or is an island in Tromsø Municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. It lies in the Tromsøysundet strait between the mainland and the larger island of Kvaløya. The city of Tromsø is located on the island, which has 39,882 resident ...

in the early 1200s. Originally, Hillesøy Church was located on the island of

Hillesøya Hillesøya is an island and fishing village in Tromsø Municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The island is dominated by a mountain, but the southeastern third of the island is relatively flat and that is where the residents of the isl ...

, just west of

Sommarøy Sommarøy is an old fishing village in the western part of Tromsø Municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. It is located about west of the city of Tromsø and is a popular tourist destination due to its white sand beaches and scenery. ...

, about south of the present church site on Kvaløya island. The church was a wooden building with 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 ...

floorplan where the main

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 ...

was about . By the 1700s, the old building was in quite poor condition. Around the year 1770, the old church was torn down and a new church was built on the same site. It was 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 woode ...

design. During the 1800s, a sacristy was built on the east end of the building and a tower with a steeple on the west end. In the 1800s, the church seated about 150 people, but as time went on, the church became too small for the parish and it was decided to move the church to another location that was more central in the parish. A site at Brensholmen on the western coast of Kvaløya island was chosen. It was about south of the old church site. In 1889, a new, larger church was built there and then the old church was torn down afterwards.

Media gallery

Hillesøy kirke i sol.jpg, Nordlicht-hillesøya.jpg, Hillesøy kirke - Front.jpg, Alter Hillesøy kirke.jpg, Galleriet i Hillesøy kirke.jpg, Hillesøy kirke mot koret.jpg,

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hillesoy Church Churches in Tromsø Churches in Troms Wooden churches in Norway 19th-century Church of Norway church buildings Churches completed in 1889 13th-century establishments in Norway Long churches in Norway

History

Media gallery

See also

References