| Old Veøy Church | |
|---|---|
| Veøy gamle kyrkje | |
 View of the church | |
 Old Veøy Church | |
| 62°40′28″N7°25′40″E / 62.674535503°N 7.4277891219°E /62.674535503; 7.4277891219 | |
| Location | Molde Municipality, Møre og Romsdal |
| Country | Norway |
| Denomination | Church of Norway |
| Previous denomination | Catholic Church |
| Churchmanship | Evangelical Lutheran |
| History | |
| Status | Parish church |
| Founded | 11th century |
| Consecrated | c. 1200 |
| Architecture | |
| Functional status | Preserved museum |
| Architectural type | Long church |
| Style | Romanesque |
| Completed | c. 1200 (825 years ago) (1200) |
| Closed | 1907 |
| Specifications | |
| Capacity | 400 |
| Materials | Stone |
| Administration | |
| Diocese | Møre bispedømme |
| Deanery | Molde domprosti |
| Parish | Røvik og Veøy |
| Type | Church |
| Status | Automatically protected |
| ID | 107967 |
Old Veøy Church (Norwegian:Veøy gamle kyrkje) is a formerparish church of theChurch of Norway inMolde Municipality inMøre og Romsdal county,Norway. It is located on the small island ofVeøya which lies in theRomsdalsfjorden. It was the main church for the Veøyparish until its closing in 1901. The church was a part of theMolde domprosti (arch-deanery) in theDiocese of Møre and now it is part of theRomsdal Museum. The white, stone church was built in along church style in the 1200s by an unknownarchitect. The church seats about 400 people.[1][2]
Tradition says that there have been seven churches located all over the island ofVeøya, some of which may have dated back to the 8th century. Since theViking Age, the wholeRomsdalsfjorden was quite important as a transportation route and the island of Veøya was centrally located, making it quite important as well. The island of Veøya had a market town on it and many residents. The only church remaining on the island is the Old Veøy Church which has been the only church on the island for the last several hundred years.[3][4]
The earliest existing historical records of this church on Veøya date back to the year 1308, but it was not new that year. The first church on Veøy was probably a woodenstave church that was built during the mid-11th century.[3] That church was torn down around the year 1200 when the present church (now known as the Old Veøy Church) was built. The Old Veøy Church is aRomanesquelong church built of stone and covered with white plaster. The church is constructed out of locally quarriedsoapstone andmarble.[3][4]
The church was designated as the main church for the parish of Veøy starting in 1480 (in 1838, the parish becameVeøy Municipality). In 1589, the parish had annex churches located inBolsøy,Rødven,Kleive,Vestnes,Tresfjord,Vistdal, andEresfjord. The church has been renovated and expanded several times over the centuries including in 1631, 1656, 1722, and a major refurbishment from 1760-1790.[3][4]
In 1814, this church served as anelection church (Norwegian:valgkirke).[5][6] Together with more than 300 other parish churches across Norway, it was a polling station for elections to the 1814Norwegian Constituent Assembly which wrote theConstitution of Norway. This was Norway's first national elections. Eachchurch parish was a constituency that elected people called "electors" who later met together in each county to elect the representatives for the assembly that was to meet atEidsvoll Manor later that year.[5][7]
In 1832, and again in 1858, the church was renovated. From the mid-1600s to the late-1800s, the island of Veøya had lost is great importance and few people were actually living on the island. In 1901, a royal decree was handed down that discontinued the church in active use. The decree authorized the construction of a newVeøy Church on the mainland so that residents of the parish could more easily reach the church. In 1907, the new Veøy Church was completed and put into use. After that, the old church was renamed "Old Veøy Church" and it was preserved as a historic site. Since 1907, the church has not been in regular use, but is periodically used for special occasions. In the 1950s, one family still owned homes on the island, but they were only used for vacations, so there were no longer any permanent residents living on the island. From 1976-1978, the church was refurbished by theNorwegian Directorate for Cultural Heritage. Since 1990, the church has been jointly owned by the parish, the municipality, and theRomsdal Museum. From 1990-1992, the church and surroundings were examined archaeologically.[3][4][8][9]
Jonas Lied donated one-third of his wealth to the renovation of the old church.
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