Hopen Church ( no, Hopen 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

Smøla Municipality Smøla is a municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is part of the Nordmøre region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Hopen, other villages include Dyrnes, Råket, and Veiholmen. The municipality ...

in Møre og Romsdal 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 village of Hopen, along the northern coast of the island of Smøla. It is the church for the Hopen

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

Ytre Nordmøre prosti Ytre may refer to: People: * Knut Ytre-Arne (1896–1968), Norwegian politician for the Liberal Party Places: *Ytre Østfold, the outer area of Østfold county (Norway) that has a fjord or coastal line * Ytre Øydnavatnet, lake in the municipality ...

( deanery) in the

Diocese of Møre The Diocese of Møre ( no, Møre bispedømme) is a diocese in the Church of Norway which geographically consists of Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. Its bishop is seated at the Molde Cathedral which is located in the county administrative center ...

. The white, wooden church was built in a long church style in 1892 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 ...

Adolf Schirmer. The church seats about 260 people.

History

The earliest existing historical records of the church date back to the year 1589, but the church was not new that year. The first church in Hopen was established 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 ...

Veiholmen Veiholmen is a fishing village located on a group of tiny islands in the northern part of Smøla Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The island is located at the end of a long road leading north from the village of Hopen. The roa ...

on a small island about northwest of the present church site. The church was a

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 ar ...

with no tower or spire. It was likely built during the 14th century. The rocky island was not a good site for a

cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a buri ...

alongside the church, so residents had to travel to Brattvær Church for funerals and burials. By the 1720s, the church was in poor condition and it was decided to find a new church site and to build a new church there. It was decided to build the church on the north side of the main island of Smøla in the village of Hopen. The new church was completed in 1749. The old church was closed and it wasn't until 1760 that the old church was torn down. Most of the interior furniture from the old church was transferred to the new church in Hopen. The new church in Hopen 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 ...

octagonal In geometry, an octagon (from the Greek ὀκτάγωνον ''oktágōnon'', "eight angles") is an eight-sided polygon or 8-gon. A '' regular octagon'' has Schläfli symbol and can also be constructed as a quasiregular truncated square, t, w ...

church with a sacristy on the east end. It was consecrated on 5 August 1749 and it was formally named ''Hopen Church'', but it was quite often called ''Smøla Church'' since it was the first church on that larger island (there were several other church on smaller surrounding islands). The new church included a

graveyard A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a buri ...

surrounding the building. The tower and spire on the roof was struck by lightning and damaged on Christmas Day 1842. It was repaired soon afterwards. In 1884, the cemetery surrounding the church was closed because the soil was thin and wet and difficult to bury people. Burial sites were used at Ytre Roksvåg and on Veiholmen after the cemetery was closed. By the mid-1880s, the church had fallen into disrepair so thoroughly that it could not be saved. In 1890, permission was granted to demolish the church and build a new one on the same site. The last service was held on 8 February 1891. The new church was completed in 1892 and consecrated on 20 July 1892. It was designed by Adolf Schirmer and built by builder Christian Hovde (who had also recently built the nearby Brattvær Church). The new church was a wooden long church with a tower on the west end and a

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 ...

and sacristy on the east end. In 1966, a new baptismal sacristy and bathroom were built on both sides of the tower.

Media gallery

Hopen kyrkjestad.jpg Hopen kyrkje 1.jpg Hopen kyrkje.jpg

References

{{use dmy dates, date=July 2021 Smøla Churches in Møre og Romsdal Long churches in Norway Wooden churches in Norway 19th-century Church of Norway church buildings Churches completed in 1892 14th-century establishments in Norway

History

Media gallery

See also

References