St. Olav's Church ( bn, সেন্ট ওলাভ'স চার্চ, translit=Sēnṭa ōlābha'sa cārca) is a
protestant church in
Serampore,
West Bengal, India. Also known as St Olave's Danish Church, it was built in the early 19th century, when the area was part of
Fredriksnagore – then a small (50 km²) colony of
Denmark. The building is now jointly controlled by the
Church of North India
The Church of North India (CNI) is the dominant united Protestant church in northern India. It was established on 29 November 1970 by bringing together the Protestant churches working in northern India. It is a province of the worldwide Anglica ...
(CNI) and
Serampore College Council.
History
Locally known as the Danish Church, it was one of the 100 buildings that were constructed by the
Danish management between 1755 and 1845, at a time when the town was called Frederiksnagore.
A major restoration project there was rewarded by the 2016
UNESCO Asia Pacific Heritage Awards
Architecture
The entrance has an open portico of twin columns under a broken-base pediment containing the royal monogram of
Christian VII, king of Denmark when the church was consecrated. Above the portico is a bell tower that also contains a clock. One of the church bells is inscribed "
FREDERICKS VÆRCK ANNO 1804", indicating it originated from a Danish factory.
[Serampore: Restaurering af Skt. Olavs Kirke]
National Museum of Denmark.
The church is flat roofed, inside and out. The church is not particularly Scandinavian, but reflects the designs of contemporary churches in
British India, in particular those in Calcutta, which were inspired by contemporaneous designs popular in Britain, such as
St. Martin-in-the-Fields
St Martin-in-the-Fields is a Church of England parish church at the north-east corner of Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, London. It is dedicated to Saint Martin of Tours. There has been a church on the site since at least the mediev ...
in London.
Restoration of St. Olav's Church
. National Museum of Denmark.
Gallery
File:Interior of The Church.jpg, Interior of the church
References
Further reading
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{{coord, 22.7571, N, 88.3427, E, source:wikidata, display=title
Churches in West Bengal
Danish India
Church of North India church buildings
Churches completed in 1806
Serampore
Serampore