Dale Church (Luster)

Dale Church
Dale kyrkje
View of the church
Dale Church Location in Sogn og Fjordane county Dale Church Location in Sogn og Fjordane county
61°26′29″N 7°27′18″E / 61.4413°N 7.4549°ECoordinates: 61°26′29″N 7°27′18″E / 61.4413°N 7.4549°E
Location	Luster Municipality, Sogn og Fjordane
Country	Norway
Denomination	Church of Norway
Churchmanship	Evangelical Lutheran
Architecture
Status	Parish church
Functional status	Active
Completed	c. 1240
Specifications
Capacity	200
Materials	Stone
Administration
Parish	Dale
Deanery	Indre Sogn prosti
Diocese	Diocese of Bjørgvin

Dale Church (Norwegian: Dale kyrkje) is a parish church in Luster Municipality in Sogn og Fjordane county, Norway. It is located in the village of Luster on the western shore of the Lustrafjorden. The church is part of the Dale parish in the Indre Sogn deanery in the Diocese of Bjørgvin. ^[1][2]

Dale Church of Luster reflects both Romanesque and Gothic style. The medieval era church was built around the year 1240 and it was dedicated to Saint Nicholas. The church seats about 200 people. The church is endowed with sculpture in Vestportalen soapstone and preserved interiors from the Middle Ages. Construction includes granite in cavity walls with soapstone corners and frames. The nave and choir are rectangular. The porch and the ridge turret above the entrance in the west were built in the 1600s. The Gothic west portal dates to ca. 1250; the west tower added later. The church was restored in 1903 under the direction of architect Jens Zetlitz Monrad Kielland. ^[3]

Furnishings for Dale Church are from various eras. The baptismal font from the 1200s is of soapstone and is shaped as a four-leaf clover. The pulpit is in Renaissance style from the 1600s, while the baroque altarpiece and memory boards are from around 1700. The pulpit has pictures of evangelists in the side panels together with depictions of the Crucifixion with Mary and John the Evangelist at foot of the cross, flanked by Moses and John the Baptist. The choir wall is decorated with frescoes from the late 1500s. The bride bench dates from the 1100s and the crucifix from the 1200s.^{[4] [5][6]}

Media gallery

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  Exterior view of the church

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  Side view of the church

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  Church with parsonage

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  Soapstone carved art work

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  Church and churchyard

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  Interior view of the church

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  Soapstone portal in the church

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  Rosemaling inside church porch

See also

• List of churches in Sogn og Fjordane

References

1. "Dale kyrkje". Kirkesøk: Kirkebyggdatabasen. Retrieved 2014-02-21.
2. "Dale kyrkjestad". Riksantikvaren. Retrieved October 1, 2016.
3. Åse Moe Torvanger. "Jens Kielland, Arkitekt". Norsk biografisk leksikon. Retrieved October 1, 2016.
4. Anne Marta Hoff. "Dale kyrkje, Luster". Norges Kirker. Retrieved October 1, 2016.
5. "Oversikt over Nåværende Kirker" (in Norwegian). KirkeKonsulenten.no. Retrieved 2014-02-21.
6. "Dale kyrkje" (in Norwegian). Sogn og Fjordane Fylkesarkiv. Retrieved 2014-02-21.