Møsstrond 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 ...

Vinje Municipality Vinje is a municipality in Telemark county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Vest-Telemark which is part of Øvre Telemark. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Åmot. Other villages in the munic ...

Telemark Telemark () is a Counties of Norway, county and a current electoral district in Norway. Telemark borders the counties of Vestfold, Buskerud, Vestland, Rogaland and Agder. In 2020, Telemark merged with the county of Vestfold to form the county o ...

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

Møsstrond Møsstrond is a small island village in Vinje Municipality in Telemark county, Norway. The village is located on the island Hovdeøyi which lies in the lake Møsvatn, high up in the mountains just east of Hardangervidda National Park. The villa ...

. It is one of the churches for the Rauland

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 Øvre Telemark 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 Agder og Telemark The Diocese of Agder og Telemark () is a diocese of the Church of Norway, covering all of Agder county and Telemark county in Norway. The cathedral city is Kristiansand, Norway's fifth largest city. Kristiansand Cathedral serves as the seat of t ...

. 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 1923 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 ...

Olav O. Bitustøyl. The church seats about 100 people.

History

The earliest existing historical records of the church date back to the year 1598, but that was not the year the church was built. There is historical evidence of a medieval church at Hovden (now referred to as Møsstrond), but very little is known about the old church. At some point, however, the church was closed and there are no traces of the old building, nor is the exact site of the old church known. In 1849, a new church was built at Hovden, possibly on the same site as the medieval building. Not much is recorded about that building. In 1903, the nearby lake

Møsvatn Møsvatn or Møsvann is a lake in Vinje Municipality in Telemark county, Norway. It is the tenth-largest lake in Norway with a surface area of and a volume of . The lake lies just east of the Hardangervidda National Park, in Skien watershed ...

was

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, aqua ...

med and this led to the rising of the water levels on the lake. The church had originally been built on a peninsula, but after the rising of the water, now it is located on a small island. The church serves the people in the village of Møsstrond on the island as well as the rural areas surrounding the lake (many of those areas are not connected to the national road network and are only accessible by boat). The church was struck by lightning in the summer of 1919 and burned to the ground. Olav O. Bitustøyl was hired to design the new church. The new church was completed and

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 ...

in 1923. It is a wooden

with a west tower that is drawn slightly into the

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 ...

. The

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 ...

is on the east side of the nave and it is flanked by two small sacristies.

References

{{use dmy dates, date=December 2022 Vinje Churches in Telemark Long churches in Norway Wooden churches in Norway 20th-century Church of Norway church buildings Churches completed in 1923 1849 establishments in Norway

History

See also

References