Dønnes Church () is a 13th-century

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), 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 com ...

of the

Church of Norway The Church of Norway (, , , ) is an Lutheranism, evangelical Lutheran denomination of Protestant Christianity and by far the largest Christian church in Norway. Christianity became the state religion of Norway around 1020, and was established a ...

Dønna Municipality Dønna is a municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the Helgeland region. The administrative centre of the island municipality is the village of Solfjellsjøen. Other villages include Bjørn, Dønnes, Hestad, Sandåker, and V ...

Nordland Nordland (; , , , ) is one of the three northernmost Counties of Norway, counties in Norway in the Northern Norway region, bordering Troms in the north, Trøndelag in the south, Norrbotten County in Sweden to the east, Västerbotten County to t ...

county,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. It is located in the village of Dønnes on the northern part of the island of Dønna. It is one of the churches for the Dønna

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

which is part of the Nord-Helgeland prosti (

deanery A deanery (or decanate) is an ecclesiastical entity in the 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 residence of ...

) 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 Bodø (town), town of Bodø at Bodø Cathedral, the sea ...

. The stone church was built in a

long church Church building in Norway began when Christianity in Norway, 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 inst ...

style during the 13th century 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 ...

. Some of the interior decorations include ''Madonna with Child'' from 1200s, a figure of St. Laurentius (''St. Lavrans'') from the 1400s, and a carved

Baroque style The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from the early 17th century until the 1750s. It followed Renaissance art and Mannerism and preceded the Rococo (i ...

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, accesse ...

from the 1600s. The

altarpiece An altarpiece is a painting or sculpture, including relief, of religious subject matter made for placing at the back of or behind the altar of a Christian church. Though most commonly used for a single work of art such as a painting or sculpture, ...

is from 1670.

History

The earliest existing historical records of the church date back to the year 1308, but the church was likely built during the first half of the 1200s, and there may have been a church on the site prior to the construction of this stone church. In 1584, written descriptions of the church state that it was in such poor condition that it was preferable to have the worship services outside in the graveyard rather than inside the building. In 1651, the church was purchased by

Preben von Ahnen Preben von Ahnen (18 September 1606 – 15 November 1675) was a Norwegian civil servant and landowner. Biography Preben von Ahnen was born on the island of Rügen, off the Pomeranian coast in the Baltic Sea. He was a son of Pomeranian nobl ...

. In 1675, the church was sold to Peter Christoffersen Tønder. In 1796, the church was sold to a Mission College. In 1814, this church served as an

election church An election church () 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 elections and this ass ...

(). 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 ( or ) is the name given to the 1814 constitutional assembly that adopted the Norwegian Constitution and formalised the dissolution of the union with Denmark. The meetings took place at the Eidsvoll Manor in th ...

which wrote the

Constitution of Norway The 'Constitution of Norway'' (complete name: The Constitution of the Kingdom of Norway; Danish language, Danish: ; Norwegian language, Norwegian Bokmål: ; Nynorsk, Norwegian Nynorsk: ) was adopted on 16 May and signed on 17 May 1814 by the N ...

. This was Norway's first national elections. Each church parish 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 at

Eidsvoll Manor Eidsvollsbygningen (Literally: ''The Eidsvoll building'') is a historic manor house located at Eidsvoll in Akershus county, Norway. The building is where the Constitution of Norway was signed on 17 May 1814. The estate is now owned by The State o ...

later that year. In 1824, the church was sold out of private ownership to the people of the Dønnes parish. In 1866, the western part of the

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 ...

was torn down and rebuilt wider and longer so that the church would increase its capacity. The stone church has been renovated several times since then. In the 1960s and 1970s, Dønnes Church was examined and arranging under the leadership of

Håkon Christie Håkon Andreas Christie (30 August 1922 – 14 December 2010) was a Norwegian architectural historian, antiquarian and author. Together with his wife, Sigrid Marie Christie (18 April 1923 - 16 May 2004) he worked from 1950 on the history of N ...

. Restoration work was completed in 1974.

Media gallery

Dønneskirke.jpg, Rear view of Dønnes Church Dønnes kirke02.JPG, View from a distance Dønnes kirke01.JPG, Exterior view Dønnes Kirke, Vindu 03.jpg, Interior windows Dønnes Kirke, Interiør 01.jpg, Interior view Dønnes Kirke, Utsmykning 03.jpg, Statue of St Laurentius Dønnes Kirke, Interiør 02.jpg, Altar Dønnes Kirke, Altertavle.jpg, Christ risen Dønnes Kirke, Mausoleum.jpg, Door to the mausoleum Dønnes Kirke, Utsmykning.jpg, Madonna and child

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Donnes Church Dønna Churches in Nordland Stone churches in Norway 13th-century churches in Norway 13th-century establishments in Norway Norwegian election churches Long churches in Norway

History

Media gallery

See also

References