Churchmanship Evangelical Lutheran Functional status Active Opened 1861 | Consecrated 11 Dec 1861 Capacity 200 | |
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Location Førde Municipality,Sogn og Fjordane Similar Haukedalen Church, Stavang Church, Ortnevik Church, Holmedal Church, Bjordal Church | ||
Holsen Church (Norwegian: Holsen kyrkje) is a parish church in Førde Municipality in Sogn og Fjordane county, Norway. It is located in the village of Holsen. The church is part of the Holsen og Haukedalen parish in the Sunnfjord deanery in the Diocese of Bjørgvin. The white, wooden church was built in 1861 using designs from the architect Jacob Wilhelm Nordan. The church, that seats about 200 people, was consecrated on 11 December 1861 by the local Dean Johan Christie.
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History
One of the last stave churches in the district of Sunnfjord stood in Holsen until the early 1700s. It was torn down some time after 1722. When a new timber church was built, they chose a new site safe from floods at a site about 100 metres (330 ft) to the west of the old church, where the church built in 1861 now stands. Here the church is beautifully located, to the east of the lake Holsavatnet.
Holsen is an ancient church site, referred to the first time in 1360. Up to the 17th century, the people of the Haukedalen valley also belonged to the Holsen church, before they had their own chapel. The church of today is the third at Holsen, and it is the oldest of the three churches in Førde Municipality.
Building
The church has a symmetrical appearance, with a steeple in the middle. The porch to the west and the vestry to the east are equal in size. The interior walls are not painted, there is no gallery, and the ceiling is flat and painted blue. On each long side there are three large windows. The church remained unchanged until 1936, when the ceiling, mouldings, altar rail, and pulpit were given new colours. Angular braces, which supported the ceiling and the walls, were removed, and the church interior became more open. Behind the simple wooden cross on the altar a canopy with stars against a blue background was installed.