Ranes Church


Ranes Church is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Surnadal Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is located in the village of Ranes, just east of the municipal centre of Skei. It is one of the two churches for the Øye og Ranes parish which is part of the Indre Nordmøre prosti in the Diocese of Møre. The white, wooden church was built in a long church style in 1869 by the architect Schmedling from the town of Molde. The church seats about 420 people.

History

The earliest existing historical records of a church at Skei, just east of Ranes, date back to 1589, but at that time it contained articles dating back to the 1100s and 1200s, so it may have been quite old. At some point the church was moved about to the east to Ranes. This old stave church existed at Ranes until around 1702 when it was torn down. In 1702, a new church on the same site was completed. It was a large church was a tower in the middle of the roof. That church was painted red and had a tile roof. The current church was completed in 1869 after the old church was torn down. The altarpiece from the 1702 church is used in the present church.