Bjordal Church


Bjordal Church is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Høyanger Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is located in the village of Bjordal. It is one of the two churches for the Bjordal og Ortnevik parish which is part of the Sunnfjord prosti in the Diocese of Bjørgvin. The white, wooden church was built in a long church style in 1906 using designs by the architect Victor Nordan, the son of the famous Norwegian church architect Jacob Wilhelm Nordan. The church seats about 160 people.
The church is not large, but it has a picturesque location on a hilltop overlooking the fjord. The nave of the church measures with a choir measuring.

History

The people living around the Fuglesetfjorden had long desired a church of their own. In 1856, the people of Bjordal had petitioned for a church to be built in their village, rather than making the long journey to the Kyrkjebø Church. Again in 1896, the people of Bjordal petitioned the government for their own church. It took three years, but in 1899, the government decided that a chapel would be built. Planning began and after several years passed the church was completed. The church was consecrated on 1 November 1906. It originally the status of a chapel until 1 January 1997 when it was upgraded to a church. At the same time the new parish of Bjordal og Ortnevik was created with Ortnevik Church and Bjordal Church being the parish churches. This meant that all the people in Høyanger on the south side of the Sognefjorden now had their own parish.