Florø Church ( no, Florø kyrkje) is a parish church of the

Church of Norway The Church of Norway ( nb, Den norske kirke, nn, Den norske kyrkja, se, Norgga girku, sma, Nöörjen gærhkoe) is an evangelical Lutheran denomination of Protestant Christianity and by far the largest Christian church in Norway. The church b ...

in the municipality of Kinn, Vestland, Norway. It is located in the town of Florø. It is the main church for the Kinn parish, which is part of the Sunnfjord 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 Bjørgvin The Diocese of Bjørgvin ( no, Bjørgvin bispedømme) is one of the 11 dioceses that make up the Church of Norway. It includes all of the churches located in the county of Vestland in Western Norway. The cathedral city is Bergen, Norway's second ...

. 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 ...

design in 1882 using plans drawn up by the architect Jacob Wilhelm Nordan. The church seats about 500 people.

History

For the first 22 years after Florø was designated as a ladested (town) in 1860, it had no church. It was probably the only town in the country without a church of its own. The townspeople had to undertake the long long sea voyage to the old

Kinn Church Kinn Church ( no, Kinn kyrkje) is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Kinn Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is located on the small island of Kinn. It is one of two churches for the Kinn parish which is part of the Sunnfjord pr ...

on the island of Kinn to be able to attend church services. The church issue was a recurrent topic in the Florø town council every year after 1860. In 1882, the church was finally completed in the town, and it became the main church for the parish, with the old Kinn Church being taken out of regular service. The church was

consecrated 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 ...

on 8 November 1882 by the bishop Fredrik W. Hvoslef.

Building

Florø Church is a big church built with a high nave. On either side wall there are five big windows with pointed gables. The chancel is rectangular with a pentagonal apse with three large windows. All the stained-glass windows are framed in lead. There are two vestries, one for the vicar and one reserved for babies to be christened. The church had an organ for the consecration ceremony in 1882, and this was one of the first organs in the region of Sunnfjord. The colours in the church are in various shades of grey, repainted in 1999. At the same time the pews were repaired and fitted with cushions. Two rows of pews at the back of the nave have been removed to make space for various exhibits, and also to provide a meeting place for "church coffee" functions. There were no stoves when the church was new, but they were installed five years later in 1887. Only in 1965 did the church get electric heating.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Floro Church Kinn Churches in Vestland Long churches in Norway Wooden churches in Norway 19th-century Church of Norway church buildings Churches completed in 1882 1882 establishments in Norway

History

Building

See also

References