Talgje Church ( no, Talgje 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 the large Stavanger Municipality in Rogaland 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 on the island of

Talgje Talgje (or ''Sør-Talgje'') is a populated island in the eastern part of Stavanger municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. The island is located in the Talgjefjorden and Brimsefjorden, both arms off of the main Boknafjorden in a large arc ...

. It is one of the two churches for the Talgje

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

Tungenes prosti This list of churches in Rogaland is a list of the Church of Norway churches in Rogaland county, Norway. The churches are all part of the Diocese of Stavanger. The diocese is based at the Stavanger Cathedral in the city of Stavanger. The list ...

( deanery) in the

Diocese of Stavanger The Diocese of Stavanger ( no, Stavanger bispedømme) is a diocese in the Church of Norway. It covers all of Rogaland county in western Norway. The cathedral city is Stavanger, where the Stavanger Cathedral is located. The bishop is Anne Li ...

. The old, stone church was built in a long church design around the year 1100 using designs 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 126 people. The church is dedicated to the

Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother of ...

History

The earliest existing historical records of the church date back to the year 1280, but the church was likely built around the year 1140. The church was located on the farm ''Garå'' or ''Gardå'' on the island of Talgje. The church 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-type ...

and 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 stone

apse In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an '' exedra''. ...

. Originally, the church probably had a tower on the west end. The church was built as part of a large estate on Talgje. The estate was owned by old Norwegian nobility throughout the

middle ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

. Gaute Erlingsson owned the estate for a time. During a renovation and restoration in 1870, the south portal of the nave was moved to a newly built

porch A porch (from Old French ''porche'', from Latin ''porticus'' "colonnade", from ''porta'' "passage") is a room or gallery located in front of an entrance of a building. A porch is placed in front of the facade of a building it commands, and form ...

in the west and made wider. The chancel arch is the only one in Rogaland that is still intact. Before the restoration, there was a long runic inscription on the south wall that told who had the church built and that a charitable foundation had also been established, probably a hospital. Until 1840, the ruins of a rectangular stone building, possibly from the 13th century, were located just east of the church and they may have been (2nd generation of) such a hospital.

Media gallery

Talgje kirke, Talgøy Kirke, Rogaland - Riksantikvaren-T233 01 0009.jpg Talgje kirke, Talgøy Kirke, Rogaland - Riksantikvaren-T233 01 0008.jpg Talgje kirke, Talgøy Kirke, Rogaland - Riksantikvaren-T233 01 0005.jpg

References

{{use dmy dates, date=October 2020 Churches in Stavanger Stone churches in Norway 12th-century churches in Norway Churches completed in 1140 12th-century establishments in Norway

History

Media gallery

See also

References