Kvitsøy 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 ...

Kvitsøy Municipality Kvitsøy is an island municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. At only , it is the smallest municipality in Norway by area and one of the smallest by population. Kvitsøy is located in the traditional district of Ryfylke. The administrative cen ...

Rogaland Rogaland () is a Counties of Norway, county in Western Norway, bordering the North Sea to the west and the counties of Vestland to the north, Telemark to the east and Agder to the east and southeast. As of 1 January 2024, it had a population of 49 ...

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 just north of the village of

Ydstebøhamn Ydstebøhamn or Ydstebøhavn is the administrative centre of Kvitsøy municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. The village is located on the southern shore of the island of Kvitsøy. The village has a ferry quay which receives regular ferries f ...

on the island of Kvitsøy. It is the church for the Kvitsøy

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

Tungenes prosti This list of churches in Rogaland is a list of the Church of Norway churches in the Diocese of Stavanger in Norway. It includes all of the parishes in Rogaland county. The diocese is based at the Stavanger Cathedral in the city of Stavanger (city) ...

(

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 Stavanger The Diocese of Stavanger () is a diocese in the Church of Norway. It covers all of Rogaland county in western Norway. The cathedral city is Stavanger, where the Stavanger Cathedral is located. The bishop is Anne Lise Ådnøy, who has held the p ...

. The small, 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 around the year 1620 using designs 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 150 people.

History

The earliest existing historical records of the church date back to the year 1293, but it was not new that year. Around 1620, the old medieval church was torn down and a new church was built on the same site. It is possible that some of the materials from the old church were reused in the new building. The

altarpiece An altarpiece is a painting or sculpture, including relief, of religious subject matter made for placing at the back of or behind the altar of a Christian church. Though most commonly used for a single work of art such as a painting or sculpture, ...

was new in 1620, but the

baptismal font A baptismal font is an Church architecture, ecclesiastical architectural element, which serves as a receptacle for baptismal water used for baptism, as a part of Christian initiation for both rites of Infant baptism, infant and Believer's bapti ...

is dated back to around the year 1300, so it was used in the old church as well. The church has been remodeled and expanded since the original structure was built. In the 1950s, the original

rosemåling Rose-painting, , or is a Scandinavian decorative Folk art, folk painting that flourished from the 1700s to the mid-1800s, particularly in Norway. In Sweden, rose-painting began to be called , c. 1901, for the region Dalecarlia where it had been ...

decorations on the walls were discovered and restored.

References

Kvitsøy Churches in Rogaland Wooden churches in Norway 17th-century Church of Norway church buildings Churches completed in 1620 13th-century establishments in Norway {{Norway-Lutheran-church-stub

History

See also

References