Harøy Church
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Harøy Church () is a
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 ...
in
Ålesund Municipality Ålesund (, sometimes spelled Aalesund in English) is a municipality in Møre og Romsdal County, Norway. It is part of the traditional district of Sunnmøre and the centre of the Ålesund Region. The town of Ålesund is the administrative ce ...
in
Møre og Romsdal Møre og Romsdal (; ) is a Counties of Norway, county in the northernmost part of Western Norway, Western Norway. It borders the counties of Trøndelag, Innlandet, and Vestland. The county administration is located in the Molde (town), town of M ...
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 central part of the island of
Harøya Harøya is a swampy island in Ålesund Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. At , it is the largest island in the municipality. The island is located between the islands of Finnøya (to the northeast) and Fjørtofta (to the southwest) ...
, just north of the Lomstjønna Nature Reserve. It is one of the two churches for the Sandøy
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 Nordre Sunnmøre 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 Møre. The white, wooden 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 ...
design in 1934 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 ...
s Fredrik Ziegler Kavli and Paul S. Michelsen. The church seats about 340 people.


History

The earliest existing historical records of the church date back to 1589, but it was described as an old, dilapidated building at that time. The first church at Harøy 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 ...
located at Huse, about north of the present location of the church. It was possibly built during the 14th century. Originally the church was 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, generally due to travel distance. Often a ...
to the main
Aukra Church Aukra Church () is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Aukra Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is located in the village of Aukrasanden on the southeast coast of the island of Gossa. It is the church for the Aukra parish ...
. Since this annex church was built on a rocky island, there was no graveyard surrounding the church. Parishioners had to travel to Aukra Church to bury their dead. In 1625, the church was described as being in very poor shape. It must have been repaired around that time. Again in 1786, the church was said to be in poor condition. In 1812, after years of neglect and lack of repairs, both the Sandøy Church and Harøy Church were in poor condition, so they both were torn down. To replace them both, a single new church was constructed on the west side of the island of Sandøya, about northwest of the former location of the Sandøy Church which made it closer to Harøya island than the previous location of the church. This meant that the residents of Harøya island had to travel by boat to Sandøy Church rather than having a church on their own island. This new building was built on better ground, so it was able to have a graveyard around the church, but this left no church on the island of Harøya any more. In 1907, a new graveyard was built on the island of Harøya so that residents didn't have to travel as far to bury their dead. The graveyard was located about south of the site of the Old Harøy Church. Soon after, people began to push for a new church to be built alongside the cemetery. In 1913, a committee was appointed to work for the church on the island. In the beginning, there was a desire for a stone building before ending up with a decision to build a wooden church, not least for financial reasons. Planning for the new church took many years. A number of draft drawings were submitted and evaluated, especially from Fredrik Ziegler Kavli and Ole Havnæs. Drafts prepared by Kavli were chosen and they were further developed after Kavli's death in 1930 by Paul S. Michelsen. These drawing were used for the construction of the new church. Formal permission to build the church was granted by a
Royal Decree A decree is a legal proclamation, usually issued by a head of state, judge, royal figure, or other relevant authorities, according to certain procedures. These procedures are usually defined by the constitution, Legislative laws, or customary l ...
on 24 February 1933. The church was
consecrated Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects (a ...
on 9 June 1934. On the same day, a memorial stone was unveiled at the old medieval church site.


See also

*
List of churches in Møre The list of churches in Møre is a list of the Church of Norway churches in the Diocese of Møre in Norway. It includes all of the parishes in Møre og Romsdal county. The Diocese is based at the Molde Cathedral in the city of Molde (town), Molde ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Haroy Church Buildings and structures in Ålesund Churches in Møre og Romsdal Long churches in Norway Wooden churches in Norway 20th-century Church of Norway church buildings Churches completed in 1934 14th-century establishments in Norway 1810s disestablishments in Norway 1934 establishments in Norway