Roan Parish Church (''Fosen Cathedral''; ) is a

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the 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 community activities, ...

of the Church of Norway in

Åfjord Åfjord is a municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is part of the Fosen region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Årnes. Other villages in the municipality include Revsnes, Roan, Bessaker, Harsvika, an ...

municipality in

Trøndelag Trøndelag (; sma, Trööndelage) is a county in the central part of Norway. It was created in 1687, then named Trondhjem County ( no, Trondhjems Amt); in 1804 the county was split into Nord-Trøndelag and Sør-Trøndelag by the King of Denma ...

county,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

. It is located in the village of Roan. It is the church for Roan

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 o ...

which is part of the

Fosen prosti This list of churches in Nidaros is a list of the Church of Norway churches in the Diocese of Nidaros which covers all of Trøndelag county in Norway. The list is divided into several sections, one for each deanery in the diocese. Administra ...

( deanery) in the

Diocese of Nidaros Nidaros is a diocese in the Lutheran Church of Norway. It covers Trøndelag county in Central Norway and its cathedral city is Trondheim, which houses the well-known Nidaros Cathedral. Since 10 September 2017, the Bishop of Nidaros is Herbor ...

of the (Evangelical, Lutheran) Church of Norway. The white, stone structure was built in the

Basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica is a large public building with multiple functions, typically built alongside the town's Forum (Roman), forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek East. The building ...

style in 1702 to the designs of

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 ...

Morten Jørgensen Bjørnør. The church seats about 450 people.

History

The earliest historical record of a church building on this site dates back to the year 1499, but this was not the year of the current church's construction. The very first church at Roan was a

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 ar ...

called Bjørnør Church, which was located about east of the present building. On 7 February 1690, the old church suffered fire damage and was likely repaired afterwards. By the year 1700, just 10 years later, it was described as being in poor condition and dilapidated, and so (in 1702) the present day stone church was constructed, approximately west of the previous location. In 1884, 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 ...

was extended by to the west using plans drawn up by the architect Ole Falck Ebbell and at the same time, a new bell tower was constructed at the west end of the church.

Election church

In 1814, the current church served as an

election church An election church ( no, valgkirke) 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 election ...

( no, valgkirke). Together with more than 300 other parish churches throughout Norway, it served as a polling station for the country's first national elections to the 1814

Norwegian Constituent Assembly The Norwegian Constituent Assembly (in Norwegian ''Grunnlovsforsamlingen'', also known as ''Riksforsamlingen'') is the name given to the 1814 constitutional assembly at Eidsvoll in Norway, that adopted the Norwegian Constitution and formalised t ...

which was responsible for writing the Constitution of Norway. Each

ecclesiastical 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 m ...

was a constituency which selected "electors" who later met together, in each county, to choose the representatives for the

Eidsvoll Eidsvoll (; sometimes written as ''Eidsvold'') is a municipality in Akershus in Viken county, Norway. It is part of the Romerike traditional region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Sundet. General information ...

assembly which was to meet later that same year.

References

{{use dmy dates, date=May 2021 Åfjord Churches in Trøndelag Long churches in Norway Stone churches in Norway 18th-century Church of Norway church buildings Churches completed in 1702 14th-century establishments in Norway Norwegian election church

History

Election church

See also

References