Selje Church ( no, Selje 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

Stad Municipality Stad is a municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Nordfjord. The municipality includes much of the northern shore of the Nordfjorden as well as the Stad peninsula. The administrative centre of the ...

Vestland Vestland is a county in Norway established on 1 January 2020. The county is located in Western Norway and it is centred around the city of Bergen, Norway's second largest city. The administrative centre of the county is the city of Bergen, where 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 the ...

. It is located in the village of Selje. It is the church for the Selje

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 Nordfjord prosti ( deanery) in the Diocese of Bjørgvin. The white, wooden church was built in a long church design in 1866 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 ...

Frederik Hannibal Stockfleth. The church seats about 420 people.

History

The earliest existing historical records of the church date back to around the year 1100, but the church may have been built as early as the year 996. Selje Church is mentioned in the 10th century saga,

Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar ''Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar'' is the name of several kings' sagas on the life of Óláfr Tryggvason, a 10th-century Norwegian king. Latin lives of Óláfr Tryggvason were written by Oddr Snorrason and by Gunnlaugr Leifsson; both are now lost, but ...

. The first church in Selje was located on the small island of Selja, just off the coast of the present-day village of Selje. From the 12th until the 16th century, the old

Selje Abbey Selja Abbey (''Selja kloster'') was a Benedictine monastery located on the island of Selja in the municipality of Stad, Vestland, Norway. The island of Selja, which has been formerly known as Sellø or Selø, is located 15 minutes by boat fro ...

was a major religious center for the region. Around the 1100s, the old church was moved to the village of Bø on the island of Selja, not far from the Abbey and it was rebuilt as a 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 ...

. This church was located on the south side of the island, and it was known as the ''Fylkeskyrkja'' (the county church). The church had a

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 ...

that measured about and a choir that measured about . By the year 1340, the church was described by the archbishop as being in poor condition due to neglect. By the mid-1500s, the small island was no longer inhabited and parishioners had to travel by boat to the church from the mainland. Due to its age and condition, and that there were no longer residents on the island, in 1654 it was decided to tear down the church and to build a replacement church at Hove on the mainland, about across the bay, approximately where the present church stands today. The new church was completed in 1654 and the old church was also torn down that year. In 1814, this church served as an

election church An election church ( no, valgkirke) is a term used for approximately 300 churches in Norway that were used as polling stations during the elections to the Norwegian Constituent Assembly at Eidsvoll in 1814. This was Norway's first national election ...

( 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 t ...

which wrote the Constitution of Norway. This was Norway's first national elections. Each

church 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 ...

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 ...

later that year. In 1865, it was decided that the old church was in need of replacement. The new church was designed by Frederik Hannibal Stockfleth and the lead builder was Rasmus Sætre from Stryn. The builder was paid 6150

speciedaler The rigsdaler specie was a unit of silver currency used in Norway, renamed as the speciedaler in 1816 and used until 1873. Norway used a common reichsthaler currency system shared with Denmark, Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein until 1873 when the go ...

for the work. Construction of the new church took place during the winter of 1865, right next to the old church. It was completed by the April of 1866. The last

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 Sa ...

in the old church took place on 22 April 1866. The new building was consecrated on 13 May 1866 by the Bishop

Peter Hersleb Graah Birkeland Peter Hersleb Graah Birkeland (14 January 1807–5 January 1896) was a Norwegian priest in the Church of Norway. He served as Bishop of the Diocese of Bjørgvin from 1864–1880. Early life and family Peter Birkeland was born in the village ...

. The old church was then taken down and moved to

Leikanger Leikanger () is a former municipality in Sogn og Fjordane county, Norway. It was located on the northern shore of the Sognefjorden in the traditional district of Sogn. The administrative center was the village of Hermansverk, which also was the ...

where it was rebuilt become the present

Leikanger Church Leikanger Church ( no, Leikanger kyrkje) is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Sogndal Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is located in the village of Leikanger, along the northern coast of the Sognefjorden. It is the church for ...

. At the time of its completion in 1866, the new church was one of the largest in the Diocese of Bergenhus. The

measured and a ceiling height of . The choir had a sacristy built on either side of it. The new church was renovated and expanded in 1887 and 1895. In 1954, electric lights and heating was added to the building. The church was renovated again in 1966.

Media gallery

Selje church 02 Sogn og Fjordane Norway 2014-09-16.JPG Selje kyrkje 16.04.2016 (08).jpg Selje kyrkje1 (cropped).jpg Selje kyrkje 1.jpg, Winter view of the church Selje kyrkje1.jpg, View of the church with small boat houses along the shore Naust i Selje.JPG, View from the southeast Selje kyrkje-24.jpg, Front of the church Selje kyrkje-45.jpg, Side view of the church Selje kyrkje-42.jpg, Close up side view of the church Selje kyrkje.jpg, Close up of the church Selje kyrkje altertavle.jpg, Interior view of altar table

References

{{use dmy dates, date=August 2021 Stad, Norway Churches in Vestland Long churches in Norway Wooden churches in Norway 19th-century Church of Norway church buildings Churches completed in 1866 10th-century establishments in Norway Norwegian election church

History

Media gallery

See also

References