Vassfjell Chapel ( no, Vassfjellkapellet) is a

chapel A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common ty ...

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; sma, Tråante), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2020, it had a population of 205,332, was the third most populous municipality in Norway, and ...

municipality in

Trøndelag Trøndelag (; sma, Trööndelage) is a county in the central part of Norway. It was created in 1687, then named Trondhjem County ( no, Trondhjems Amt); in 1804 the county was split into Nord-Trøndelag and Sør-Trøndelag by the King of Denmar ...

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 a rural area northeast of the mountain

Vassfjellet Vassfjellet is a mountain on the border of the municipalities of Melhus and Trondheim in Trøndelag county, Norway. The eastern side of the mountain hosts a ski resort, Vassfjellet Skisenter. The tall mountain lies about southeast of the villag ...

, about west of the village of

Tanem Tanem is a village in the municipality of Trondheim in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is located between Nidelva river and Vassfjellet approximately west of the village of Klæbu which sits on the other side of the river. The village has a popula ...

. There is no direct road access to the chapel, but there is a long

hiking Hiking is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century.AMATO, JOSEPH A. "Mind over Foot: Romantic Walking and Rambling." In ''On Foot: A Histor ...

path from a parking lot located on the road to the north. It is an

annex chapel A chapel of ease (or chapel-of-ease) is a church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently. Often a chapel of ease is deliberately bu ...

for the Klæbu

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 Heimdal og Byåsen 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 Nidaros Nidaros is a diocese in the Lutheran Church of Norway. It covers Trøndelag county in Central Norway and its cathedral city is Trondheim, which houses the well-known Nidaros Cathedral. Since 10 September 2017, the Bishop of Nidaros is Herborg ...

. 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 ...

style in 1974 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 ...

students Steinar Romedal, Jan Oddvar Hareide, I. Tolo, and O. Holen.

History

At a meeting of the Trondheim Christian Student Association (TKS) in February 1969, a decision was made to build a sports chapel in rural

Klæbu Klæbu is a former municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 2020 when it was incorporated into the neighboring Trondheim Municipality. It was located in the southern part of the Trondheim Region, a ...

that could be the weekend centre for students from the region. The architecture students Steinar Romedal, Jan Oddvar Hareide, I. Tolo, and O. Holen began the work of drawing the designs for the chapel, and they were able to present the drawings to the association in the spring of 1971. On 16 September 1973, the first construction phase was completed. This phase included the chapel, kitchen, and bathroom. The church was formally

consecrate 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 ...

d by the Bishop

Tord Godal Tord Godal (27 June 1909 – 27 February 2002) was a Norwegian theologian and bishop for the Diocese of Nidaros. He was decorated Commander of the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav in 1969. Godal was also a Freemason. Godal was born on 27 ...

on 4 March 1974. Construction phase two was to build an annex building and this was constructed from 1975 to 1977. It was architect Steinar Romedal who designed this building. In 1977, the third construction phase began where they built some leadership offices and prayer rooms on the site. The last project to be completed was a free-standing bell tower that was built in 1980.

References

{{use dmy dates, date=June 2021 Churches in Trondheim Churches in Trøndelag Long churches in Norway Wooden churches in Norway 20th-century Church of Norway church buildings Churches completed in 1974 1974 establishments in Norway

History

See also

References