Vågan Church

Vågan Church ("Lofoten Cathedral")
Vågan kirke ("Lofotkatedralen")
View of the church
Vågan Church ("Lofoten Cathedral") Location in Nordland Vågan Church ("Lofoten Cathedral") Location in Nordland
Coordinates: 68°12′57″N 14°29′00″E / 68.2157°N 14.4832°E
Location	Vågan, Nordland
Country	Norway
Denomination	Church of Norway
Churchmanship	Evangelical Lutheran
History
Founded	1100s
Consecrated	9 October 1898
Architecture
Status	Parish church
Functional status	Active
Architect(s)	Carl J. Bergstrøm
Completed	1898
Specifications
Capacity	1200
Materials	Wood
Administration
Parish	Vågan
Deanery	Lofoten prosti
Diocese	Diocese of Sør-Hålogaland

Vågan Church (Norwegian: Vågan kirke; sometimes called the Lofoten Cathedral) is a parish church in the municipality of Vågan in Nordland county, Norway. It is located in the village of Kabelvåg on the island of Austvågøya. The church is part of the Vågan parish in the Lofoten deanery in the Diocese of Sør-Hålogaland. Seating about 1200 people, this church is the largest wooden building in Northern Norway (north of Trondheim).

History

This has been a church site since the 12th century. Lofoten's first church was built there during the time of King Øystein Magnusson. Five or six different churches have been built on the same area of today's church over the last 900 years. One former church was moved to Værøy in 1799 (see Old Værøy Church). The present church (nicknamed Lofoten Cathedral) was built in 1898 to be large enough to accommodate all the fishermen who came to Kabelvåg each season. The church was designed by Carl J. Bergstrøm in the Gothic revival style. When the Lofoten cathedral was completed, the "old church" was still located just across the road, and that church was demolished in the summer of 1900.^[1][2]

See also

• List of churches in Nordland

References

1. "Vågan kirke" (in Norwegian). Kirkesøk: Kirkebyggdatabasen. Retrieved 2012-07-21.
2. "Vågan kirke - Lofotkatedralen" (in Norwegian). Vågan kirkelige fellesråd. Retrieved 2012-07-21.