Syvde Church ( no, Syvde 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 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 ...

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 municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is part of the Sunnmøre region. The administrative centre is the village of Fiskåbygd. Other villages in the municipality include Åheim, Åram, Rovdane, Eidså, Slagnes, ...

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 the ...

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 in the village of Myklebost in the

Syvde Syvde is a former municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1918 until its dissolution in 1964. The municipality included the areas surrounding the Syvdsfjorden in the eastern part of the present-day Vanylv ...

area of the municipality. It is the church for the Syvde

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 Søre Sunnmøre prosti (

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 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 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 in 1837 using plans drawn up 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 392 people.

History

The earliest existing historical records of the church date back to 1432 in

Aslak Bolt's cadastre ''Aslak Bolt's cadastre'' ( no, Aslak Bolts jordebog; written 1432–1433) is a Norwegian cadastre, a detailed register of properties and incomes of the Archdiocese of Nidaros. History Aslak Bolt's cadastre was a register of land ownership w ...

, but the church was already existing at that time. The first church in Syvde was likely a wooden stave church that was possibly built in the 14th century. The original church site was at Myklebust, about to the southwest of the present church site. The oldest written sources that describe the church building say that the small, old stave church had 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

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 ...

on the south end and a church porch on the west end. In 1677, the old

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 ...

from the old

Ulstein Church Ulstein Church ( no, Ulstein kyrkje) is a parish church of the Church of Norway in the municipality of Ulstein, Møre og Romsdal, Norway. It is located in the town of Ulsteinvik on the western side of the island of Hareidlandet. It is the church f ...

was moved to this church and installed in it. The church sat on the plains at the bottom of a river valley and sometimes the river would flood and much of the valley would be submerged during these brief periods of occasional flooding. Because of this, the church site was not ideal. In the 1830s, the church was in poor shape and in need of replacement. The parish decided to not only build a new church, but also to move the church site a different location, near the

fjord In physical geography, a fjord or fiord () is a long, narrow inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created by a glacier. Fjords exist on the coasts of Alaska, Antarctica, British Columbia, Chile, Denmark, Germany, Greenland, the Faroe Islands, Ice ...

and further from the river. In 1836, the old church was torn down and its materials were sold to a private individual. Then in 1836-1837, a new church was built about to the northeast of the old church site. The new church was

consecrated Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service. The word ''consecration'' literally means "association with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different grou ...

by the

rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

on 13 November 1837, having been postponed by one day due to bad weather. In 1870-1871, the church was renovated and enlarged. The roof was removed and the

was widened by about . A new roof was installed at a higher level, about higher than the previous roof. In 1907, the western wall of the

was removed and the nave was lengthened by about . After lengthening the nave, a new church porch and tower were built on the west end of the church. This renovation gave the church its characteristic look with its three main doors to the building. During the 1950s, the

sacristy A sacristy, also known as a vestry or preparation room, is a room in Christian churches for the keeping of vestments (such as the alb and chasuble) and other church furnishings, sacred vessels, and parish records. The sacristy is usually located ...

was enlarged on the east end of the building.

References

{{use dmy dates, date=August 2021 Vanylven Churches in Møre og Romsdal Long churches in Norway Wooden churches in Norway 19th-century Church of Norway church buildings Churches completed in 1837 14th-century establishments in Norway

History

See also

References