Tingvoll Church

Tingvoll Church
Tingvoll kyrkje

View of the church
Tingvoll Church

Location in Møre og Romsdal

Coordinates: 62°54′43″N 8°10′55″E / 62.9119°N 8.1819°E
Location Tingvoll Municipality,
Møre og Romsdal
Country Norway
Denomination Church of Norway
Churchmanship Evangelical Lutheran
History
Founded 1150-1200
Architecture
Status Parish church
Functional status Active
Style Langkirke
Specifications
Length 32 metres (105 ft)
Number of spires 1
Spire height 36 metres (118 ft)
Materials Stone
Administration
Parish Tingvoll
Deanery Indre Nordmøre
Diocese Møre

Tingvoll Church (Norwegian: Tingvoll kyrkje) is a parish church in Tingvoll Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is located in the village of Tingvollvågen. The church is the main church of the Tingvoll parish, in the Indre Nordmøre deanery in the Diocese of Møre. The church is one of the few remaining old stone churches that was built in Norway. There is some uncertainty as to when it was actually constructed, but records indicate it was between 1150 and 1200. The 800+ year old church in Tingvoll and the large angular farmhouse beside it, lie on a beautiful spot on the north side of the Tingvollfjorden, just outside of the village of Tingvollvågen off of the Norwegian National Road 70. The church was built here because in the Viking age, Tingvoll was a court place for all of the Nordmøre region, which is why the church is sometimes called Nordmørsdomen, meaning the Nordmøre cathedral.[1][2]

Design

The church is 32 metres (105 ft) long and the steeple and spire (added in 1787) is 36 metres (118 ft) tall. The 1.8-metre (5 ft 11 in) thick walls have corridors inside, both on the south side and on the north side. The corridors lead to steep stairs up to the crown of the wall under the rafters and then down again with the same steep pitch. It is a mystery why they were constructed. So also a balcony outside under the gable, located above the chancel. The church is richly decorated. From the painted walls in the weaponhouse, the whitewash paintings inside the nave, to the arc ceiling in the chancel which is adorned with stars and "half" moons. In the chancel wall, behind the top of the altarpiece, there is a marble rock with runic inscriptions. This inscription contains a prayer and also what is believed to be the name of the constructor - Gunnar. In 1928-1929 the church underwent some restoration work.[3]

References

  1. "Tingvoll kirke". Retrieved 2010-12-01.
  2. "Tingvoll kyrkje". Kirkesøk: Kirkebyggdatabasen. Retrieved 2013-04-23.
  3. Lamvik, Martin. Bygdehistorie for Tingvoll og Straumsnes III. pp. 17–198.

External links