Sande 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 ...

in Sande Municipality in

Møre og Romsdal Møre og Romsdal (; ) is a Counties of Norway, county in the northernmost part of Western Norway, Western Norway. It borders the counties of Trøndelag, Innlandet, and Vestland. The county administration is located in the Molde (town), town of M ...

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 Sande on the southern shore of the island of Sandsøya. It is the church for the Sande

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 Søre Sunnmøre 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 Møre. 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 1880 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 ...

Jon Sefland. The

Swiss chalet style Swiss chalet style (, ) is an architectural style of Historicism (art), Late Historicism, originally inspired by rural chalets in Switzerland and the Alps, Alpine (mountainous) regions of Central Europe. The style refers to traditional building d ...

church seats about 400 people.

History

The island of Sandsøya has been a church site since the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

, and the Sande farm was owned by a noble family at least as far back as 1329. The earliest existing historical records of the church date back to the year 1432, but the church was not new that year. The first church in Sande 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 had a

design. It was possibly built during the 14th century. At some point during the 1500s or 1600s, the church was enlarged by adding a

transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform ("cross-shaped") cruciform plan, churches, in particular within the Romanesque architecture, Romanesque a ...

to the north and south of 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 ...

which created 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 ...

floor plan. A historical record from 1709 mentions a that it is a

with two towers, one above the center of the building and a smaller tower above the eastern cross arm. At that time, the choir measured and the

measured . The

(cross-arms) measured each and there was also a square

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 ...

that served as the main entrance to the building. In 1835, the old church was torn down. Soon after, a new church was built on the same site. The new building was a

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 ...

that had a choir and

sacristy A sacristy, also known as a vestry or preparation room, is a room in Christianity, Christian churches for the keeping of vestments (such as the alb and chasuble) and other church furnishings, sacred vessels, and parish records. The sacristy is us ...

on the east end and a

on the west end. The new church was

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 ...

on 6 November 1836. The church was heavily damaged during storms in 1863 and in 1874. After the 1874 storm, the parish leaders hired Jon Sefland from

Nordfjordeid Nordfjordeid is the administrative centre of the municipality of Stad, Norway, Stad in Vestland county, western Norway. It is located at the end of the Eidsfjorden, an arm of the main Nordfjorden (Sogn og Fjordane), Nordfjorden, west of the large ...

to repair the church again, but after studying the building, it was decided to tear down the old church. Sefland then designed and built a new church on the same site to replace the older one. The new church, designed similarly to the 1835 church, was completed in 1880. It was

on 30 November 1880.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sande Church (Sunnmore) Sande, Møre og Romsdal Churches in Møre og Romsdal Long churches in Norway Wooden churches in Norway 19th-century Church of Norway church buildings Churches completed in 1880 14th-century establishments in Norway

History

See also

References