Varaldsøy Church

Varaldsøy Church (Norwegian: Varaldsøy kyrkje) is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Kvinnherad Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is located on the island of Varaldsøy. It is the church for the Varaldsøy parish which is part of the Sunnhordland prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Bjørgvin. The white, wooden church was built in a long church style in 1885 using designs by the architects Conrad Fredrik von der Lippe and Hans Heinrich Jess. The church seats about 390 people.[1][2]

View of the church

Varaldsøy Church
Varaldsøy kyrkje
View of the church
Varaldsøy Church Location of the church Varaldsøy Church Varaldsøy Church (Norway)
60.0971°N 5.9758°E
Location	Kvinnherad, Vestland
Country	Norway
Denomination	Church of Norway
Churchmanship	Evangelical Lutheran
History
Status	Parish church
Founded	13th century
Architecture
Functional status	Active
Architect(s)	Conrad von der Lippe and Hans Heinrich Jess
Architectural type	Long church
Completed	1885
Specifications
Capacity	390
Materials	Wood
Administration
Parish	Varaldsøy
Deanery	Sunnhordland prosti
Diocese	Bjørgvin bispedømme
Norwegian Cultural Heritage Site
Type	Church
Status	Listed
ID	85767

History

There has been a church on Varaldsøy since the Middle Ages. The earliest existing historical records of the stave church date back to the year 1337, but it was not new at that time. In 1724, the church was sold by the Crown to Ole Gjerdrum, the local parish priest. The King sold hundreds of churches during this time to help pay for the costs of the Great Northern War. Shortly afterwards, in 1729, the old stave church was torn down and replaced by a new timber-framed church on the same site. In 1873, the parish purchased the church back from private ownership at a cost of 615 Norwegian speciedaler. In 1885, the church was torn down and a new church was built to replace it. The new church was constructed about 200 metres (660 ft) to the southwest of the old church site. This new church was consecrated on 25 November 1885 by the Bishop Waldemar Hvoslef. In 1970, the church underwent an extensive renovation.[3][4][5]

See also

• List of churches in Bjørgvin

References

1. "Varaldsøy kyrkje". Kirkesøk: Kirkebyggdatabasen. Retrieved 2 June 2020.
2. "Oversikt over Nåværende Kirker" (in Norwegian). KirkeKonsulenten.no. Retrieved 2 June 2020.
3. "Kirker i Hordaland fylke" (in Norwegian). DIS-Hordaland. Retrieved 27 March 2015.
4. "Varaldsøy gamle kyrkjestad - Våge" (in Norwegian). Norwegian Directorate for Cultural Heritage. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
5. "Varaldsøy kyrkjestad / Varaldsøy kyrkje 3" (in Norwegian). Norwegian Directorate for Cultural Heritage. Retrieved 3 June 2020.