Old Nærøy Church ( no, Nærøy gamle kirke or ) is a former

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 ...

Nærøysund Municipality Nærøysund is a municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Namdalen. The municipality was established on 1 January 2020 after the merger of the old municipalities of Vikna and Nærøy. The municipali ...

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 on the small island of Nærøya. It was once the main church for the Nærøy

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

Namdal 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. Administrat ...

(

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 stone church was originally 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 during the 12th century.

History

The earliest existing historical records of the church date back to the year 1293, but it was likely completed around the year 1180. The centuries-old church has 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 ...

with a narrower, rectangular

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

, and a tall tower to the west. The church was an important church for the Namdalen area. In 1597, the church was described as one of the nicest churches north of

Nidaros Cathedral Nidaros Cathedral ( no, Nidarosdomen / Nidaros Domkirke) is a Church of Norway cathedral located in the city of Trondheim in Trøndelag county. It is built over the burial site of Olav II of Norway, King Olav II (c. 995–1030, reigned 1015–102 ...

, with the one exception of

Trondenes Church Trondenes Church ( no, Trondenes kirke) is the northernmost medieval stone church of Norway and the world's northernmost surviving medieval building. It is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Harstad Municipality in Troms og Finnmark count ...

. The church survived fires in 1750 and again in 1770. In 1814, this church served as an election church ( no, valgkirke). 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 (in Norwegian ''Grunnlovsforsamlingen'', also known as ''Riksforsamlingen'') is the name given to the 1814 constitutional assembly at Eidsvoll in Norway, that adopted the Norwegian Constitution and formalised th ...

which wrote the

Constitution of Norway nb, Kongeriket Norges Grunnlov nn, Kongeriket Noregs Grunnlov , jurisdiction =Kingdom of Norway , date_created =10 April - 16 May 1814 , date_ratified =16 May 1814 , system =Constitutional monarchy , b ...

. 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 in

Eidsvoll Eidsvoll (; sometimes written as ''Eidsvold'') is a municipality in Akershus in Viken county, Norway. It is part of the Romerike traditional region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Sundet. General information E ...

later that year. In 1847, the church was struck by lightning and it burned down, leaving only the exterior stone walls remaining. The parish decided to move the church site after this last fire and in 1851, a new Lundring Church was opened on the mainland to replace this old church. After the new church opened, the old stone church fell into disrepair and it stood as ruins for over 100 years. The ruins were surveyed and examined by the architect Nils Ryjord in 1912. Later, the architect

John Tverdahl John Egil Tverdahl (1890 in Trondheim – 1969) was a Norwegian architect. Tverdahl designed many churches as well as led the restoration of several churches that were located in Nordmøre, Trøndelag, and Nordland in northern Norway. Tverdahl w ...

led the work of restoration and reconstruction of the ruins from 1948-1961. The walls were rebuilt first and then around 1960, the roof and tower were rebuilt. After this work was completed, little was done to continue the restoration for several decades. In the late 1990s, a local organization was founded to continue the upkeep and improvements in the church. At that time the church received new floors, doors, benches, and windows. In 2004, the roof was replaced with a new slate roof. In 2016, part of the west wall of the tower collapsed. Some restoration work was begun after that to enclose the church while a plan for a more proper restoration could begin.

Media gallery

Nærøy kirke fra RA.jpg Nærø kirkeruin - an10071204260033.jpg Nærø kirkeruin - an10071204260034.jpg Nærø kirkeruin - an10071204260035.jpg Nærø kirkeruin - an10071204260036.jpg Nærø kirkeruin - an10071204260037.jpg Nærø kirkeruin - an10071204260038.jpg Nærø kirkeruin - an10071204260039.jpg

References

{{use dmy dates, date=May 2021 Nærøysund Churches in Trøndelag Long churches in Norway Stone churches in Norway 12th-century churches in Norway 12th-century establishments in Norway 1847 disestablishments in Norway

History

Media gallery

See also

References