Herøy 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 Herøy Municipality in

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 Silvalen on the island of Sør-Herøy. It is the main church for the Herøy

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 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 ...

style in the 12th 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 ...

. The church seats about 350 people.

History

The earliest existing historical records of the church date back to the year 1432, but the church was originally constructed during the second half of the 1100s. The church has a rectangular

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 ...

, a tower to the west, and a narrower

choir A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

with a semicircular

apse In architecture, an apse (: apses; from Latin , 'arch, vault'; from Ancient Greek , , 'arch'; sometimes written apsis; : apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical Vault (architecture), vault or semi-dome, also known as an ' ...

. The choir and apse have a lower roof line than the nave. Research on the building has shown that the

part is the oldest part of the existing building with the apse and nave built a little later. Originally, the current choir was the stone nave that was attached to a wooden building. The wood building was later torn down and the stone building was expanded. Over the years, the church fell into disrepair. During the early 1400s, the western wall of the church was taken down and the stone nave was shortened by about and then a new wall was built. In 1879, the church was enlarged by doubling the length the

(adding about to the nave) and then a new west tower was added on the end of the new nave. In the 1960s, the church was thoroughly renovated by the

John Egil Tverdahl John Egil Tverdahl (1890 in Trondheim – 1969) was a Norwegian architect. Tverdahl designed many churches as well as led the restoration of several churches that were located in Nordmøre, Trøndelag, and Nordland in northern Norway. Tverdahl w ...

Media gallery

Herøy kirke fra nordøst.jpg, Herøy kirke06.JPG, Herøy kirke, Nordland - Riksantikvaren-T403 01 0058.jpg, Herøy kirke, Nordland - Riksantikvaren-T403 01 0060.jpg, Herøy kirke03.JPG, Herøy kirke09.JPG, Herøy kirke10.JPG, Herøy kirke04.JPG,

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Heroy Church, Nordland Herøy, Nordland Churches in Nordland Stone churches in Norway 12th-century churches in Norway 12th-century establishments in Norway Long churches in Norway

History

Media gallery

See also

References