Holy Cross Church () is a special

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 ...

Bergen Bergen (, ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo. By May 20 ...

municipality in

Vestland Vestland is a Counties of Norway, county in Norway. The county is located in Western Norway, and its administrative centre is Bergen, where the executive and political leadership is based. The County governor (Norway), County Governor is based in ...

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 situated in the centre of the city of

, just east of the head of the Vågen bay. The church is located at the intersection of the streets Kong Oscars gate and Nedre Korskirkeallmenningen. It is one of the churches for the Bergen domprosti

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

Bergen domprosti Bergen (, ) is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo. By May 2025 the population is 294 029 according to Statistics Norway. The municipali ...

(arch-

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 Bjørgvin The Diocese of Bjørgvin () 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, and those outside of Norway in the Seamen's Church. The cathedral cit ...

. The large stone church was built in a

cruciform A cruciform is a physical manifestation resembling a common cross or Christian cross. These include architectural shapes, biology, art, and design. Cruciform architectural plan Christian churches are commonly described as having a cruciform ...

design around the year 1150 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 600 people.

History

The oldest part of the church dates back to the second half of the 12th century. The first church on the site was built around the year 1150. Holy Cross Church was first mentioned in

Sverris saga ''Sverris saga'' is one of the Kings' sagas. Its subject is King Sverre Sigurdsson of Norway (r. 1177–1202) and it is the main source for this period of Norwegian history. As the foreword tells us, the saga in its final form consists of mo ...

from 1185. At the time of construction, the church was situated on the shore of Vågen, probably marking the southern border of settlement in Bergen. The name refers to the

True Cross According to Christian tradition, the True Cross is the real instrument of Jesus' crucifixion, cross on which Jesus of Nazareth was Crucifixion of Jesus, crucified. It is related by numerous historical accounts and Christian mythology, legends ...

(and not to its cruciform plan), and is rendered in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

as "Holy Cross Church" or "Church of the Cross". This is because it was, as one of only a handful Norwegian churches, in possession of a

relic In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains or personal effects of a saint or other person preserved for the purpose of veneration as a tangible memorial. Reli ...

from the True Cross. This relic was later stolen by the Danish king, along with several other relics from all over the country, during the

Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...

. Holy Cross Church was damaged in the fires of 1198, 1248, 1413, 1582, 1623, 1640 and 1702; the church originally had two towers, but one was destroyed in the 1582 fire and never rebuilt. It was originally built with straight rectangular plan. The church got its cruciform plan when transepts were added around 1615-1623. 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 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 ...

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 Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Akershus Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Romerike Districts of Norway, traditional region. The administrative centre of the munic ...

later that year. The church was a

for Holy Cross Church parish in central

from 1320 until 2002. In 2002, several urban parishes in central Bergen were merged to form the "Bergen domkirke" parish. At the same time, Holy Cross Church ceased to be a regular parish church. It was given over to the

Church City Mission Church City Mission ( Norwegian: ''Kirkens Bymisjon'') is a diaconal foundation in Norway doing social work within alcohol care, elderly care, child welfare, mental health care and among prostitutes - as well as religious activities with pastoral ...

(), and is now a special church in the urban parish. The church is an "open church" that is staffed every day so that people can experience silence or participate in the lighting of candles, conversation, community, attending

church services A church service (or a worship service) is a formalized period of Christian communal worship, often held in a church building. Most Christian denominations hold church services on the Lord's Day (offering Sunday morning and Sunday evening servic ...

, or listening to music. The Church City Mission focuses a lot on

social work Social work is an academic discipline and practice-based profession concerned with meeting the basic needs of individuals, families, groups, communities, and society as a whole to enhance their individual and collective well-being. Social wo ...

among the urban neighborhood as well as religious outreach.

Gallery

File:Korskirken.Bergen.JPG, Aerial view in 2007 Norwegen 1998 (111) Bergen- Korskirken (34929415815).jpg, Holy Cross Church Tower Korskirken, Bergen..jpg, Holy Cross Church Side View Korskirken, Bergen.......jpg, Holy Cross Church Entrance File:Marienkirche in Bergen Rückseite.jpg, Bergen, Korskirken (1).jpg, Interior view Bergen, Korskirken (2).jpg, Interior view

References

External links

Korskirken.no
{{use dmy dates, date=June 2020 Churches in Bergen Stone churches in Norway Cruciform churches in Norway 12th-century churches in Norway 12th-century establishments in Norway Norwegian election churches

History

Gallery

See also

References

External links