Country Norway Churchmanship Evangelical Lutheran Functional status Active Capacity 320 Architect Christian Heinrich Grosch | Denomination Church of Norway Consecrated 29 October 1863 Opened 1863 Status Parish church | |
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Location Balestrand Municipality,
Sogn og Fjordane Diocese Lutheran Diocese of Bjørgvin Similar Kvamsøy Church, Sæle Church, Arnafjord Church, Feios Church, Fet Church | ||
Tjugum Church (Norwegian: Tjugum kyrkje) is the main parish church in Balestrand Municipality in Sogn og Fjordane county, Norway. It is located in the village of Tjugum, just north of the main village of Balestrand. The church is part of the Balestrand parish in the Indre Sogn deanery in the Diocese of Bjørgvin. The white, wooden, octagonal church, which has 320 seats, was built in 1863. It was consecrated on 29 October 1863 by the local Dean Thomas Erichsen. The building was designed by architect Christian Henrik Grosch.
History
There has been a church at Tjugum for centuries. It is not known when the original stave church was built here, but it could have been as early as the 12th century. It is known that the original church was replaced in 1610 by a timber church. The timber church from 1610 is shown in a painting from 1839 (see media gallery below). This church was part of the Leikanger parish until 1 March 1849 when the new Balestrand parish was established. Tjugum church was to be the main church for the parish, so a new, larger church was commissioned to be built. The new (present) church was completed in 1863.