Volda Church ( no, Volda kyrkje; Voldskyrkja) 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

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 ...

Volda Volda is a municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is part of the Sunnmøre region. The administrative centre is the village of Volda. Other villages in the municipality include Dravlaus, Fyrde, Straumshamn, Leira, Bjørke, and ...

in Møre og Romsdal 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 Volda, along the northeastern shore of the

Voldsfjorden Voldsfjorden or Voldafjorden is a fjord in Volda Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The long fjord begins at the confluence of the Austefjorden and the Kilsfjorden. The Voldsfjorden reaches a maximum depth of below sea level, ...

. It is the church for the Volda

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 ...

as well as the seat of the Søre Sunnmøre prosti ( deanery) 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 large stone church was built in a long church design in 1932 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 ...

Arnstein Arneberg Arnstein Rynning Arneberg (6 July 1882 – 9 June 1961) was a Norwegian architect. He was active professionally for 50 years and is often considered the leading architect in Norway of his time. Personal life Arnstein Rynning Arneberg was b ...

. The church seats about 800 people.

History

The earliest existing historical records of the church date back to 1338, but the church existed before that time. The first church in Volda was likely built in the 1200s. The oldest known building on the site was a wooden

stave church A stave church is a medieval wooden Christian church building once common in north-western Europe. The name derives from the building's structure of post and lintel construction, a type of timber framing where the load-bearing ore-pine posts ar ...

and it was located about southwest of the present church site. The original

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 ...

measured about and the

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 sp ...

measured about . During the 1500s, a large

transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform ("cross-shaped") building wi ...

addition was added to the south which created a partial

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 ...

design for the building. Then in 1551, a large transept addition to the north was added, giving the church building a true

design. In 1814, this church served as an

election church An election church ( no, valgkirke) is a term used for approximately 300 churches in Norway that were used as polling stations during the elections to the Norwegian Constituent Assembly at Eidsvoll in 1814. This was Norway's first national election ...

( no, valgkirke). Together with more than 300 other parish churches across Norway, it was a polling station for elections to the 1814

Norwegian Constituent Assembly The Norwegian Constituent Assembly (in Norwegian ''Grunnlovsforsamlingen'', also known as ''Riksforsamlingen'') is the name given to the 1814 constitutional assembly at Eidsvoll in Norway, that adopted the Norwegian Constitution and formalised t ...

which wrote the Constitution of Norway. This was Norway's first national elections. Each

church 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 ...

was a constituency that elected people called "electors" who later met together in each county to elect the representatives for the assembly that was to meet in

Eidsvoll Eidsvoll (; sometimes written as ''Eidsvold'') is a municipality in Akershus in Viken county, Norway. It is part of the Romerike traditional region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Sundet. General information ...

later that year. In the 1820s the church was expanded by constructing a second level gallery for seating. The church was still too small, so in 1858, the building was partially torn down with only the sacristy and

of the old church remaining for use as a temporary church while the new building was constructed about to the northeast of the old church site. The new church was built the same year with a new

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 ...

design. The new church was designed by

Christian Heinrich Grosch Christian Heinrich Grosch (21 January 1801 – 4 May 1865) was a Norwegian architect. He was a dominant figure in Norwegian architecture in the first half of the 1800s. Biography Christian Heinrich Grosch was born in Copenhagen, Denmark. ...

and it had a tower on the west end. The new building was one of the country's largest churches, seating about 970 people. The remains of the old church were fully torn down after the new church was completed. On the night of 7 April 1929, the church burned down, barely over 100 years old. Afterwards, planning for a new building began immediately. It was decided that a new, large, stone church would be built on the same site.

was hired to build the new church. It was going to have a

design with about 800 seats. The church is built with reinforced concrete with an exterior covering of stone. The transept on the south side has a large semi-circular

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''. ...

while the transept on the north side is rectangular. The new building was constructed from 1930 to 1932 and it was consecrated on 1 May 1932 by the Bishop

Andreas Fleischer Andreas Fleischer (5 November 1878–23 November 1957) was a Norwegian theologian, missionary to China, and Lutheran Bishop. He was born in Hegra, Norway, and was a brother to General Carl Gustav Fleischer. He was Bishop of the Diocese of Bjørg ...

Media gallery

Volda Church, Norway.jpg Volda Kirke - Fo30141603080110.jpg Volda kirke fra KMB.jpg Volda kyrkje.jpg Volda Kirke - Fo30141603080117.jpg Volda Kirke - Fo30141603080120.jpg Volda kirke T314 01 0124.jpg, Old church (1858-1929)

References

{{use dmy dates, date=August 2021 Volda Churches in Møre og Romsdal Stone churches in Norway Long churches in Norway 20th-century Church of Norway church buildings Churches completed in 1932 13th-century establishments in Norway Norwegian election church

History

Media gallery

See also

References