Old Gildeskål Church () is a historic

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), 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 com ...

of the

Church of Norway The Church of Norway (, , , ) is an Lutheranism, evangelical Lutheran denomination of Protestant Christianity and by far the largest Christian church in Norway. Christianity became the state religion of Norway around 1020, and was established a ...

Gildeskål Municipality Gildeskål is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Nordland Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Bodø Region and the Districts of Norway, traditional district of Salten. The administrative centre of the municipali ...

Nordland Nordland (; , , , ) is one of the three northernmost Counties of Norway, counties in Norway in the Northern Norway region, bordering Troms in the north, Trøndelag in the south, Norrbotten County in Sweden to the east, Västerbotten County to t ...

county,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. It is located just north of the village of Inndyr. Before 1881, it was the main church for the Gildeskål

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

which is part of the Bodø domprosti (

deanery A deanery (or decanate) is an ecclesiastical entity in the 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 residence of ...

) in the Diocese of Sør-Hålogaland. The white, stone church was built in a

long church Church building in Norway began when Christianity in Norway, 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 inst ...

style in the 12th century. The church seats about 275 people.

History

The earliest existing historical records of the church date back to the year 1432, but the church was likely built around the year 1130,possibly by King Øystein. The medieval stone church originally had a rectangular

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 ...

and a narrower and almost square

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the Choir (architecture), choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may termi ...

with a lower roof line. At some point, the east and west gable walls were rebuilt as well as the south wall. Around the year 1710, the church had a large fire. Afterwards, the church was repaired and an addition was added to the south, making the church half-

cruciform A cruciform is a physical manifestation resembling a common cross or Christian cross. These include architectural shapes, biology, art, and design. Cruciform architectural plan Christian churches are commonly described as having a cruciform ...

. All of the interior furniture and decor was destroyed in the fire as well. The

pulpit A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, accesse ...

was painted by Gottfried Ezekiel (ca. 1719-1798). He received a commission as a painter in Bergen during 1744 and starting in 1751 he arrived in northern Norway, where he painted a number of church altarpieces. Gottfried Ezekiel also painted the altarpiece that stands today in the new

Gildeskål Church Gildeskål Church () is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Gildeskål Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is located just north of the village of Inndyr. It is the main church for the Gildeskål parish which is part of the Bodø d ...

. In 1814, this church served as an election church (). Together with more than 300 other parish churches across Norway, it was a polling station for elections to the 1814

Norwegian Constituent Assembly The Norwegian Constituent Assembly ( or ) is the name given to the 1814 constitutional assembly that adopted the Norwegian Constitution and formalised the dissolution of the union with Denmark. The meetings took place at the Eidsvoll Manor in th ...

which wrote the

Constitution of Norway The 'Constitution of Norway'' (complete name: The Constitution of the Kingdom of Norway; Danish language, Danish: ; Norwegian language, Norwegian Bokmål: ; Nynorsk, Norwegian Nynorsk: ) was adopted on 16 May and signed on 17 May 1814 by the N ...

. This was Norway's first national elections. Each church parish was a constituency that elected people called "electors" who later met together in each county to elect the representatives for the assembly that was to meet at Eidsvoll Manor later that year. In 1851, a new law was passed that said that all rural churches had to be able to fit at least 30% of the parish members in the church building. Since this church could only seat about 275 people, it was too small, therefore a new church had to be built for the parish. It was decided that the new church would be built on the same property, about west of the old church. The new

was completed in 1881 and it seated about 750 people. Since that time, the old church was closed and turned into a museum.

Media gallery

Gildeskaal old church 1(Norway).jpg, Exterior view Gildeskål gamle kirke, Nordland - Riksantikvaren-T407 01 0070.jpg, Exterior (c. 1880) Gildeskål Kirkested.jpg, View of the church grounds The altar in Gildeskål old church.jpg, Altar Votive ship in Gildeskål old church.jpg, Ship The pulpit in Gildeskål old church in Gildeskål old church.jpg, Pulpit Eriksensorgelet.jpg, Pipe organ Enclosed pew for the social elite in Gildeskål old church.jpg, Enclosed pew The pews for the parishioners of the lowest social rank in Gildeskål old church.jpg, Pews

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Old Gildeskaal Church Gildeskål Churches in Nordland Stone churches in Norway 12th-century churches in Norway Buildings and structures completed in 1130 Churches completed in the 1130s 12th-century establishments in Norway Norwegian election churches

History

Media gallery

See also

References