Rovde Church ( no, Rovde kyrkje) 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 the

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

Vanylven Vanylven is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Møre og Romsdal Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Sunnmøre Districts of Norway, region. The administrative centre is the village of Fiskåbygd. Other villages i ...

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

Rovdane Rovdane or Rovde is a village in Vanylven Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is located along the Rovdefjorden, about north of the village of Myklebost, northeast of the municipal center of Fiskåbygd, and west of the villa ...

, along the Rovdefjorden. It is the church for the Rovde

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 Søre Sunnmøre prosti ( 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 design in 1872 using plans drawn up 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 ...

Lars Tornæs from

Ålesund Ålesund () sometimes spelled Aalesund in English, is a municipality in Møre og Romsdal County, Norway. It is part of the traditional district of Sunnmøre and the centre of the Ålesund Region. The town of Ålesund is the administrativ ...

. The church seats about 350 people.

History

The earliest existing historical records of the church date back to 1589, but the church was not new that year. The first church in Rovde was a small, wooden

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 ...

that was likely established during the 13th century. The first church was located a few meters south of the present church site. The medieval church was had a long church design with a slate roof and no tower or spire. It was one of the poorest parishes in all of Sunnmøre, not owning any property except for a few cows. Probably in the 1600s, the church was enlarged by adding a 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 woode ...

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 the old nave from the stave church was converted into the new

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 ...

. By the early 1800s, the church was in poor shape due to deterioration over time. In 1831, the centuries-old building was torn down. In 1831–1832, a new wooden church was constructed on the same site. The new church was a

long church and it was consecrated on 2 July 1832. In 1872, after only 40 years in use, the parish decided to build a new church since the old one was small and not built well. So in 1872, the church was disassembled and sold. The materials were purchased by an individual who used them to build a boathouse on nearby Sandsøya. After the old church was removed, a new church was constructed on a new site, a few meters to the northwest of the old church site. The new church was also a long church with a

and sacristy on the east end and a

church porch A church porch is a room-like structure at a church's main entrance. A porch protects from the weather to some extent. Some porches have an outer door, others a simple gate, and in some cases the outer opening is not closed in any way. The porch ...

on the west end. It was designed by the builder Lars Tornæs from

, who presumably used the nearby Syvde Church as a model. The new building was consecrated on 2 November 1872.

References

{{use dmy dates, date=August 2021 Vanylven Churches in Møre og Romsdal Wooden churches in Norway Long churches in Norway 19th-century Church of Norway church buildings Churches completed in 1872 13th-century establishments in Norway

History

See also

References