Rødven Stave Church ( no, Rødven stavkyrkje) 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 activitie ...

(now a

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical History (derived ) is the systematic study and th ...

) 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 Lutheranism, evangelical Lutheran denomination of Protestant Christianity and by far the largest Christian church in Norway. ...

Rauma Municipality Rauma is a municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is part of the traditional district of Romsdal. The administrative centre is the town of Åndalsnes. Other settlements in Rauma include the villages of Måndalen, Innfjorden, Veblu ...

Møre og Romsdal Møre og Romsdal (; en, Møre and Romsdal) is a county in the northernmost part of Western Norway. It borders the counties of Trøndelag, Innlandet, and Vestland. The county administration is located in the town of Molde, while Ålesund is t ...

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 ...

. The

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 ...

is located in the village of Rødven. It was a church in the ''Eid og Holm''

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 ...

which is part of the

Indre Romsdal prosti Indre (; oc, Endre) is a landlocked department in central France named after the river Indre. The inhabitants of the department are known as the ''Indriens'' (masculine; ) and ''Indriennes'' (feminine; ). Indre is part of the current administra ...

(

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 reside ...

) 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 cent ...

. The brown, 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 ...

design during the 12th century by an unknown

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 ...

. The church seats about 100 people. The church is considered a ''Møre''-type

due to its structure and the exterior support posts that brace the walls. In 1907, a new Rødven Church was built across the street from the old church. Since 1907, Rødven Stave Church has not been regularly used and it has been owned by the

Society for the Preservation of Norwegian Ancient Monuments Society for the Preservation of Ancient Norwegian Monuments ( no, Fortidsminneforeningen) is an organization focused on conservation preservation in Norway. The Society was founded in 1844. The founders were painters, historians, art historians ...

. Although it is now a museum, it does have one

worship service A church service (or a service of worship) is a formalized period of Christian communal worship, often held in a church building. It often but not exclusively occurs on Sunday, or Saturday in the case of those churches practicing seventh-day ...

each year on

Olsok Olsok ("Olaf's Wake" or "Olaf's Vigil") is a national day of celebration on July 29 in the Nordic countries of Norway and the Faroe Islands, and also in the provinces of Härjedalen in Sweden and Savonlinna in Finland. Background King Olaf II ...

, the eve of

St. Olav Olaf II Haraldsson ( – 29 July 1030), later known as Saint Olaf (and traditionally as St. Olave), was King of Norway from 1015 to 1028. Son of Harald Grenske, a petty king in Vestfold, Norway, he was posthumously given the title ''Rex Perp ...

's Day.

History

The earliest existing historical records of the church date back to the year 1547, but the church was not new that year. The first church on the site was a wooden

that was likely built during the 1100s and it was an annex church that was subordinate to the Old Veøy Church parish. This church stood for nearly 200 years before being torn down and replaced with a new building. The new church was also a wooden

. It 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-typ ...

measuring with a rectangular

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 s ...

that measured on the east end. There is a small tower on the roof of the nave. This new church was possibly built using some of the materials from the old church that stood on the site beforehand. The north portal with an ornately carved

crucifix A crucifix (from Latin ''cruci fixus'' meaning "(one) fixed to a cross") is a cross with an image of Jesus on it, as distinct from a bare cross. The representation of Jesus himself on the cross is referred to in English as the ''corpus'' (Lati ...

was likely reused in the new building from the old 12th century building. Around the year 1600, the old choir was torn down and a new choir was built to replace it. The new choir is about wider than its predecessor, bringing the choir to the same width as the nave. Also during this renovation, the exterior corridors that encircled the building were removed. In 1651, a sacristy was added to the north side of the choir. In 1689, a strong storm blew the tower off the roof and damaged the roof. The roof was quickly fixed afterwards, but this was only meant to be a temporary fix. The church needed significant repairs which did not happen for over 20 years. In 1712, the church was significantly renovated and repaired by the lead builder Hans Knutsen from

Molde Molde () is a town and List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Møre og Romsdal Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Romsdal. It is located on the Romsdal Pen ...

. Structural repairs to the walls and roof were carried out. Exterior support beams were also added to help support the centuries-old structure. Beams were installed on all four corners plus two extra beams along each of the long walls. A new

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 ...

was built on the west end of the building. The church also had a whole new roof and tower put on. Inside the church, a new

altar An altar is a Table (furniture), table or platform for the presentation of religion, religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, Church (building), churches, and other places of wo ...

and

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, access ...

were built as well. The parish structure in the Old Veøy Church parish was changed around 1900, as Holm parish was established in 1901. In this process, the two very old churches Old Veøy Church and Rødven Stave Church were replaced by three fairly similar

dragestil Dragestil ("Dragon Style") is a style of design and architecture that originated in Norway and was widely used principally between 1880 and 1910. It is a variant of the more embracing National Romantic style and an expression of Romantic nationa ...

churches in 1907. Holm Church became the main church on the south side of the Langfjorden and the new Veøy Church was the main church to the north of the fjord. Both of those churches were designed by Karl Norum. At the same time, a new Rødven Chapel (as it originally was called) was designed by Jens Zetlitz Monrad Kielland was built about to the north, just across the road from the old Rødven Stave Church. The new Rødven Chapel was built to serve as an

annex chapel A chapel of ease (or chapel-of-ease) is a church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently. Often a chapel of ease is deliberately b ...

for the new Holm Church. After the new Rødven Chapel was completed, the old stave church was closed and removed from regular use. In 1908, the old stave church was purchased by the

which runs it as a museum, although the parish still uses the church building on special occasions. Later, the new Rødven Chapel was upgraded in status to a parish church and renamed Rødven Church. An archeological survey was carried out in 1962–1963 which was led by

Håkon Christie Håkon Andreas Christie (30 August 1922 – 14 December 2010) was a Norwegian architectural historian, antiquarian and author. Together with his wife, Sigrid Marie Christie (18 April 1923 - 16 May 2004) he worked from 1950 on the history of Nor ...

. During this excavation, evidence was found of posts for an older building on the same location, supporting the conclusion that this present church was not the first church on the site. There was also an abundance of artifacts found under the floor of the building.

Media gallery

RodvenStavkirke-Rauma-Norway.jpg 2007 06 10 Rodven stavkirke.jpg, Exterior of the church Rødven stave church.jpg, Exterior support posts P1020241.jpg, Exterior with view of Rødven Church in the background N75Rødven.jpg Rodven-kirker-Rauma.jpg Rødven kirke - an10071208080002.jpg Rødven stavkirke, Møre og Romsdal - Riksantikvaren-T328 01 0012.jpg Rødven stavkirke, Møre og Romsdal - Riksantikvaren-T328 01 0052.jpg Rødven stavkirke, Møre og Romsdal - Riksantikvaren-T328 01 0068.jpg Rødven stavkirke, Møre og Romsdal - Riksantikvaren-T328 01 0069.jpg Rødven stavkirke.jpg

References

Footnotes

External links

Rødven stavkirke
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rodven Stave Church Rauma, Norway Churches in Møre og Romsdal Long churches in Norway Stave churches in Norway Wooden churches in Norway 14th-century churches in Norway 12th-century establishments in Norway Buildings and structures owned by the Society for the Preservation of Ancient Norwegian Monuments

History

Media gallery

See also

References

Footnotes

Related reading

External links