Sømna Church ( no, Sømna kirke) 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 Sømna Municipality in Nordland 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 Vik i Helgeland. It is the church for the Sømna

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

Sør-Helgeland prosti Helgeland is the most southerly district in Northern Norway. Generally speaking, Helgeland refers to the part of Nordland county that is located south of the Arctic Circle. It is bordered in the north by the Saltfjellet mountains and Svart ...

( deanery) in the

Diocese of Sør-Hålogaland Sør-Hålogaland is a diocese in the Church of Norway. The Diocese covers the Lutheran Church of Norway churches located within Nordland county in Norway. The diocese is headquartered in the town of Bodø at Bodø Cathedral, the seat of the ...

. The white, wooden church was built in a

cruciform Cruciform is a term for physical manifestations resembling a common cross or Christian cross. The label can be extended to architectural shapes, biology, art, and design. Cruciform architectural plan Christian churches are commonly describe ...

style in 1876 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 ...

Ole Scheistrøen Ole Olsen Scheistrøen (16 August 1833 – 4 February 1921) was a Norwegian architect and builder. Scheistrøen had no formal architectural education and he, in fact, referred to himself as a builder and not an architect. However, he designe ...

. The church seats about 600 people.

History

The earliest existing historical records of the church date back to the year 1432, but it was not new that year. The first church was likely a rectangular

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 ...

building with 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 narrower rectangular

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. Ov ...

with a lower roof line. It had a small tower on the roof of the nave. This church was located about north of the present site of the church. In 1681, the old church was torn down and a new

church was built on the same site to replace it. In 1873, it was decided to build a new and larger church, but there wasn't room on the current church site. A new plot of land about north of the old church site was bought from Einar Ingebrigtsen Vik. The new church building was completed in 1876. After the new church was completed, the old church was torn down and its materials were sold at auction in the village. The old cemetery (surrounding the old church) was used until 1980 when a new cemetery was opened.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Somna Church Sømna Churches in Nordland Wooden churches in Norway Cruciform churches in Norway 19th-century Church of Norway church buildings Churches completed in 1876 14th-century establishments in Norway

History

See also

References