Church Arkiver

Løvøy Chapel

Stone church from the Middle Ages
Løvøy Chapel is beautifully located on the idyllic Løvøya in Horten, surrounded by lush forest, exciting trails and beautiful views of the Oslo Fjord. The chapel is a cozy and romantic stone church from the 13th century, and the smallest and most distinctive of Horten's three medieval churches. In the summer the pilgrimage goes by this medieval church, and there is a service every other weekend there.

The sacred St. Olav's source
Next to the chapel is the "wishing well": The sacred St. Olav source which people believed to have had a healing power since the 13th century. The source is one of the 23 famous Olav sources in Norway. The water from the sources is said to be holy and give blessing and strength to those who drink or touch it. Characteristic of St. Olav's sources is that they are sources that do not dry out when other sources go out in dry periods.

Popular chapel to marry
The Løvøyapellet is a perfect place to marry in the summer, and a very popular chapel for this purpose. The church has 100 seats and a simple yet adventurous atmosphere.

History
Pilgrims from all the Nordic countries came here. The Reformation in 1536 put an official stop to the catholic pilgrimages to Løvøya but people continued to come to the well and church for years on. The church was in ruins for many years until preservation and restoration was initiated in 1882, and it was reopened in 1950.

Berg Stone Church

The church is located along Helgeroveien, in Larvik municipality.

The church, which was built by Viking chieftains on the Manvik estate in the 12th century, was demolished in 1882 when the new Berg stone church was built. Furthermore, the church was restored in 1970.

Today, Berg stone church is not a parish church in the usual sense, but is still used a lot for special occasions, such as weddings, concerts and services in the summer.

Embedded in the church's wall you will find the church's oldest object: a rune stone from the 12th century. The pulpit in the church dates from 1592. There are 122 places inside the church.

Note: There is neither parking nor toilets on site.

Berg Wooden Church

Berg wooden church was built after it was found that Berg stone church was too small and in too bad a condition at the end of the 19th century. The church was designed by architect Johannes H. Nissen, who designed it in the Neo-Gothic style of the time. The interior of the church is bright and friendly, with an open church room supported by internal wooden columns.

The church's altarpiece is from 1580 and originally stood in the Berg stone church. There are 305 seats in the church.

There is parking on site, but no toilet.

Hedrum Church

The Roman-style stone church is mentioned in writing as early as the year 1080. It was recognized as one of six main churches in the ancient Viken county.

Over the centuries the church has gone through some major changes, but the original nave with its characteristical crooked ground plan has primarily been kept as it was.

A bell from the 1100s is today the oldest relic inside the church, while the impressive renaissance interior can be dated to the late 16th century.

Also worth mentioning is the fact that there are several old gravestones masoned to the church floor here.

There are 260 seats in the church.

Fredriksvern church

Fredriksvern shipyard and naval base was established in 1750, and the garrison church was established and then inaugurated six years later.

The church was built in rococo style from Dutch brickwork, and it has glazed, dark blue tiles. In the 1880s the church was rejuvenated, and the genuine colours of red and yellow were reinforced.

As the only place of worship in town, the floor in Fredriksvern church is formed as a cross. The church also still has the two-storey altarpiece it got to the inauguration in 1756. There is a hipped end roof in the church.

Above the main entrance the monogram of king Fredrik V. shines in typical rococo style.

There are 350 seats in the church.

Hem Church

Hem church is a medieval stone church, and is believed to be Vestfold's smallest of its kind with 90 seats.

The Gothic and the Roman period are both represented in the architecture of the church.

Her Majesty Queen Sonja showed appreciation for the church by writing a thesis on it during her studies. While working at the thesis, she visited the Lardal village and Hem church several times, and she was invited to the 600-year jubilee of the church in 1992.

Larvik church

Larvik church was built in 1877 and is situated at Tollerodden in Larvik. The church building is made from polished brick, can seat 450 churchgoers and is famous for its paintings and decorations.

Originally the nave and the choir both had wooden floors, but architect Christian Henrik Grosch changed the exterior and the interior of the church in the mid-1800s. External support pillars were built to strengthen the walls, the roof constructions were renewed and a pulpit was put in the church.

Of the interior the marble font and the pulpit made from wood is especially interesting. The Lucas Cranach (the latter) painting Let the little children come to me, with estimated value of 2 million pounds, was a gift from governor Ulrik Frederik Gyldenløve to Larvik church around 1680.

The church was restored as late as in 1988.

Chapels

Ekeberg chapel

Ekeberg cemetery in Sandefjord was put into use approx. 1930. Planning for the chapel and crematorium began in 1937, but was interrupted by the war and resumed only in 1949. Arnstein Arneberg drew up plans, but it is said that they were found to be too expensive. Arneberg is said to have then approached Anders Jahre, who offered to contribute to the financing in exchange for Arneberg's plans being used. A number of other private actors also contributed.

The crematorium was inaugurated on 1 July 1960. The facility belonged to and served Sandefjord and Sandar municipalities, which were merged in 1968. Because of the Jahre connection, "Jahre-grillen" was an early popular name for the crematorium.

In terms of shape, the building is very reminiscent of Ullensaker church, which was also designed by Arneberg and inaugurated a couple of years earlier, but the dimensions are somewhat smaller at Ekeberg. After an arson attack at the crematorium in 2000, extensive restoration was necessary. In this process, the chapel also got a new organ. It has 14 votes, was built by Robert Gustavsson and was inaugurated in June 2002.

The main entrance to the chapel is through a forecourt and then through large glass doors. Inside there is a view of an enclosed garden with a small pool through the windows in the south wall. On the end wall of the choir is a marble relief by Ragnhild Butenschøn, who also stands behind a light granite relief at the entrance. The choir vault is painted by Per Krohg and Morten Krohg. Above the main entrance is a sculpture of Jesus on the cross made by Nic Schiøll, and the wrought iron gates on the outside are made by Hans Holmen.

The church bells hang in a separate bell house. As the cemetery has been filled up, the city now has a main cemetery at Orelund chapel. However, Ekeberg cemetery is still in use, and on it you can find a number of different war memorials: British, Russian, Canadian and Norwegian. There is also a memorial grove for sailors who have been lost at sea.

Orelund chapel

Orelund Chapel is the burial chapel at Orelund Graveyard. Orelund Chapel was designed by Telje-Torp-Aasen and was inaugurated in 2000. Sandar church has for a number of years had a burial plot at Nybo chapel (on the opposite side of the railway line) after the cemetery around the church was filled up. The cemetery at Nybo has eventually been expanded to the northeast, and in 1999-2000 Orelund Chapel was built as a replacement for Nybo.

These days the cemetery serves the entire municipality and not just one parish. The building has a shell wall of jointed brick, and the roof is constructed of glulam on columns and curved beams. The building contains ideologically neutral (or ideologically flexible) ceremony space.

Outside this there is a vestibule. A bell tower stands in front of the chapel's main entrance. The ceremony room is simple and stylish, and it is decorated with textile art by Brynhild Slaatto. There is a gallery at the back of the room, and there stands an eleven-voice organ from Venheim organ building, which was inaugurated in 2001.

Olav's Chapel

Olav's chapel is located in Bjerggata in Sandefjord. It is a concrete long church from 1962, and has 70 seats.

The church was created with financial help from Sandefjord municipality and a monetary gift from shipowner Lars Christensen and his wife, Ingrid. Christensen also contributed to the chapel's decoration.

The chapel is affiliated with the Sandar congregation.

The Catholic Church

St. Johannes Døperen's Catholic Church was designed by architect Haldor Larsen Børve. It was previously the town's Methodist church for 90 years, but then became Catholic in 2008. In 2013, the church received the Old Sandefjord Association's conservation award for the restoration of the beautiful Art Nouveau building.

The church is only open in connection with church activities and other announced events.

Both the church's interior and exterior are protected.

The church has between 140 and 150 seats. The lower floor also contains a congregation hall.

The ruins of Olavs’ Church

Olav's Church was built in the late 1100s, and is a copy of the world's most important church; The Holy Sepulcher's Church in Jerusalem. It also has parallels to Olav's tomb in Trondheim. The ruins show an architecture and medieval thinking in Norway with important spiritual and political currents, at a time when both the crusades and pilgrimages characterized Europe. The round church in Tønsberg was the largest in the Nordic region, and must have been an important attraction of great cultural and spiritual significance, especially since there are few similar churches in Sweden, Denmark and elsewhere in Europe.

Olav Church also served as a grave and baptism church. In the Olav church, the viking king Erling Steinvegg was buried in 1207.

The round church belonged to the Olav Abbey in Tønsberg. It is mentioned for the first time in 1206, and was destroyed in fire, probably during the great city fire in 1536.

The roundhouse, which is the main part of the three rounds, was 23 meters in the inner diameter. The ruins of the church can be seen in the excavations made by the Olav Abbey.

The ruins are located downtown across from Tønsberg Library.