Sandøy 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 ...

Ålesund Municipality Ålesund (, sometimes spelled Aalesund in English) is a municipality in Møre og Romsdal County, Norway. It is part of the traditional district of Sunnmøre and the centre of the Ålesund Region. The town of Ålesund is the administrative ce ...

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 on the small island of Sandøya. It is one of the two churches for the Sandøy

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 Nordre 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 Diocese of Møre () is a diocese in the Church of Norway which geographically consists of Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. Its bishop is seated at the Molde Cathedral which is located in the county administrative center of Molde. , the Bisho ...

. The white, wooden church was built in an

octagonal In geometry, an octagon () is an eight-sided polygon or 8-gon. A '' regular octagon'' has Schläfli symbol and can also be constructed as a quasiregular truncated square, t, which alternates two types of edges. A truncated octagon, t is a hex ...

design in 1812 using plans drawn up 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 250 people.

History

The earliest existing historical records of the church date back to 1589, but it was an old, dilapidated building by that time. At that time, it was located on the eastern coast of the island of Sandøya and originally the church was an

annex chapel A chapel of ease (or chapel-of-ease) is a church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently, generally due to travel distance. Often a ...

to the main

Aukra Church Aukra Church () is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Aukra Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is located in the village of Aukrasanden on the southeast coast of the island of Gossa. It is the church for the Aukra parish ...

in the Aukra

prestegjeld A ''prestegjeld'' was a geographic and administrative area within the Church of Norway (''Den Norske Kirke'') roughly equivalent to a parish. This traditional designation was in use for centuries to divide the kingdom into ecclesiastical areas tha ...

. Since this annex church was built on a rocky island, there was no graveyard surrounding the church. Parishioners had to travel to Aukra Church to bury their dead. During the 1600s, the church fell into disuse due to its poor condition, with residents using the churches on the neighboring islands of

Harøya Harøya is a swampy island in Ålesund Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. At , it is the largest island in the municipality. The island is located between the islands of Finnøya (to the northeast) and Fjørtofta (to the southwest) ...

and Ona. In 1670, the church on Ona was damaged in a storm and then in 1708, the church in Ona was torn down and rebuilt on Sandøy, since the church there had long since been abandoned. The "new" Sandøy Church was in the same location where the historic building had once stood. In 1812, both the Sandøy Church and

Harøy Church Harøy Church () is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Ålesund Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is located in the central part of the island of Harøya, just north of the Lomstjønna Nature Reserve. It is one of the t ...

were in poor condition, so they both were torn down. To replace them, a single new church was constructed on the opposite side of the island of Sandøya (closer to Harøya island), about northwest of the former location. The new church was a timber-framed

building. This new building was built on better ground, so it was able to have a graveyard around the church. 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 20 September 1812.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sandoy Church Buildings and structures in Ålesund Churches in Møre og Romsdal Wooden churches in Norway Octagonal churches in Norway 19th-century Church of Norway church buildings Churches completed in 1812 14th-century establishments in Norway

History

See also

References