Meråker Church ( no, Meråker 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 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 ...

Meråker Meråker is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Trøndelag Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Stjørdalen Districts of Norway, region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Midtbygda, T ...

municipality in

Trøndelag Trøndelag (; sma, Trööndelage) is a county in the central part of Norway. It was created in 1687, then named Trondhjem County ( no, Trondhjems Amt); in 1804 the county was split into Nord-Trøndelag and Sør-Trøndelag by the King of Denmar ...

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 northwest of the village of Midtbygda. It is one of the three churches in the Meråker

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

Stjørdal prosti This list of churches in Nidaros is a list of the Church of Norway churches in the Diocese of Nidaros which covers all of Trøndelag county in Norway. The list is divided into several sections, one for each deanery in the diocese. Administrati ...

(

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 Nidaros Nidaros is a diocese in the Lutheran Church of Norway. It covers Trøndelag county in Central Norway and its cathedral city is Trondheim, which houses the well-known Nidaros Cathedral. Since 10 September 2017, the Bishop of Nidaros is Herborg ...

. 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 ...

style in 1874 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 ...

Peder Olsen and the lead builder Erik Nanstad. The church seats about 320 people.

History

There was very likely a church in Meråker 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 a ...

, but the dates are not known. The first churches in Meråker where located at Kjørkbyen (Kirkeby), about northwest of the present site of the church. After the

Black Death The Black Death (also known as the Pestilence, the Great Mortality or the Plague) was a bubonic plague pandemic occurring in Western Eurasia and North Africa from 1346 to 1353. It is the most fatal pandemic recorded in human history, causi ...

in Norway many people perished and the whole Meråker area was depopulated and no Norwegians lived there from around 1350 until the late-1500s and early-1600s. The earliest existing historical records of the church in Meråker date back to around the year 1619, when a new church was built at Kjørkbyen, the historic site of the church in Meråker. The new church was built and supported by the local residents and the Bishop in

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; sma, Tråante), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2020, it had a population of 205,332, was the third most populous municipality in Norway, and ...

was said to be less than enthusiastic about the new church. In 1691, the small church from 1619 was torn down and replaced with a new, larger church on the same site. During the construction of the new church, many bones and coffins were found beneath the church, leading people to understand that a medieval church must have stood on this site prior to the Black Death. In 1793, another new church was built at Kjørkbyen to replace the previous one. The new

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 ...

church was rectangular, almost square in shape. It had a tower on the roof and its main entrance was in the middle of the south wall of the

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 ...

. In 1874, the old church was disassembled and moved closer to the main village, Midtbygda, where most of the municipal residents lived. The last church service at the old site was on 25 May 1874. The new church site was about southeast of the historic site of the church. The new church was built using some of the reclaimed wood from the old church. The new church was designed by Peder Olsen and built by builder Erik Nonstad, both were from

Åsen Åsen is a village in Levanger municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. The village is located between the lakes Hammervatnet Hammervatnet is a lake in the municipality of Levanger in Trøndelag county, Norway. The lake lies on the north s ...

. The new church was

consecrate 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 ...

d on 16 December 1874. In the summer of 1937, the church was restored according to plans by

Roar Tønseth Roar Tønseth (1895—1985) was a Norwegian architect. He had an unusually long career as an architect, stretching from before 1920 to the early 1980s. Roar Tønseth was the son of Johannes Tønseth (1860-1896) and Henrikke Ryjord (1869-1940 ...

Media gallery

Meråker kirke 01.jpg, Meråker kirke.jpg,

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Meraaker Church Meråker Churches in Trøndelag Long churches in Norway Wooden churches in Norway 19th-century Church of Norway church buildings Churches completed in 1874 17th-century establishments in Norway

History

Media gallery

See also

References