Location Sveio, Hordaland Denomination Church of Norway Status Parish church | Country Norway Churchmanship Evangelical Lutheran Functional status Active | |
 | ||
Valen Chapel (Norwegian: Valen kapell) is a parish church in Sveio municipality in Hordaland county, Norway. It is located in the village of Valevåg. The church is part of the Valestrand og Førde parish in the Sunnhordland deanery in the Diocese of Bjørgvin.
History
The small, brown, wooden church seats about 50 people and it is only used for special situations now, although it sits on a church site that has been in use for centuries. The first church was built on this site during the middle ages. The first time this church was mentioned in historical records is in 1350, and it was built sometime before then. That old stave church was torn down in 1707 and a new church was rebuilt on the same site. That church was in use until 1872 when it was replaced by the much larger Valestrand Church, built just south of Valevåg. The old church was then extensively renovated and turned into a schoolhouse. The school operated in the building until 1938. After that time, the building was renovated again and re-consecrated in the 1940s and is now known as Valen Chapel.