Hordabø 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 ...

Alver Municipality Alver is a municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Nordhordland. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Knarvik. Other villages include Alversund, Alver, Isdalstø, Lind� ...

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 located in the village of

Bøvågen Bøvågen is a small village in Alver municipality, Vestland county, Norway. It's located on the northern part of the island of Radøy. From 1924 until 1964, it was the administrative centre of the former municipality of Hordabø. Hordabø ...

on the island of

Radøy Radøy is a List of former municipalities of Norway, former municipality in the Nordhordland district of the old Hordaland county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1964 until its dissolution in 2020 when it was merged into the new municipal ...

. It is one of the four churches in the Radøy

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

Nordhordland prosti Nordhordland is a traditional district in the western part of Norway. The district consists of the northern portion of the old Hordaland county (now in Vestland county), north of the city of Bergen. It includes the municipalities Alver, Austr ...

(

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 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 1875 using designs 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 ...

Jacob Wilhelm Nordan Jacob Wilhelm Nordan (23 February 1824 – 11 April 1892) was a Danish-born, Norwegian architect. During his career, he was one of the most prolific church architects in Norway. Biography Nordan was born in Copenhagen, Denmark and came to Nor ...

. The church seats about 330 people.

History

The earliest existing historical records of the church date back to the year 1350, but it was likely built before that time. The original church 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 ...

that was likely built during the 13th century. Originally, the church was known . In the early- to mid-1600s, the church was replaced in stages with a new

timber-framed Timber framing () and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy Beam (structure), timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and Woodworking joints, joined timbers with joints secure ...

structure. First, the old

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 and then afterwards, around 1640, the old

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 ...

was torn down and replaced. After this, the church was essentially brand new. Around the year 1719, the building was renovated, with a new floor, new roof, and a newly rebuilt tower. At this time, the

was and the choir measured . There was also a

church porch A church porch is a room-like structure at a church's main entrance. A porch protects from the weather to some extent. Some porches have an outer door, others a simple gate, and in some cases the outer opening is not closed in any way. The porch ...

on the west end of the nave. In 1721, the church was purchased from the state by the parish priest, Hans Withe, during the

Norwegian church auction The Norwegian church sale () was a comprehensive and systematic sale of most of the church properties in Norway during the 1720s. The purpose of this sale was the intention of improving the poor public finances in the Kingdom of Denmark-Norway afte ...

that the King held in order to raise money to pay off debts incurred during the

Great Northern War In the Great Northern War (1700–1721) a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in Northern Europe, Northern, Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe. The initial leaders of the ant ...

. In 1823, the current owner was the Consul Janson from Bergen, and he carried out a number of repairs on the building. In 1833, the church was in poor condition, so the owner, Hermann Krohn, paid for more repairs on the building. In 1853, the church was restored again. This time, thee tower was repaired and the base of the tower incorporated into the

so that benches could be placed in that space in order to fit more people in the church. In 1855, the entire roof of the nave was rebuilt and a new tower was erected. New, larger windows were installed throughout the church as well. In 1871, the church was sold to the local municipal government. Soon after the municipal council decided the church needed to be replaced. The

was hired to design the new building and Jon Jonsen Alvær was hired as the lead builder. In 1875, the old church was torn down and the new church was built on the same site. The new church was

consecrate 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 ( ...

d on 5 August 1875. In 1925, the name of the church was changed from to (there are a number of churches in Norway named ''Bø''). The building underwent repairs and remodeling in 1949 using plans by the by architect Ole Halvorsen from

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 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hordabo Church Alver (municipality) Churches in Vestland Long churches in Norway Wooden churches in Norway 19th-century Church of Norway church buildings Churches completed in 1875 13th-century establishments in Norway

History

See also

References