Skjerstad Church


Skjerstad Church is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Bodø Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is located in the village of Skjerstad, along Skjerstadfjorden. It is one of two churches for the Misvær og Skjerstad parish which is part of the Bodø domprosti in the Diocese of Sør-Hålogaland. The white, stone and concrete church was built in a long church style in 1959 by the architect Arnstein Arneberg. The church seats about 500 people.

History

The first historical records of the parish of Skjerstad date back to around the year 1390. No descriptions of the church remain, but in 1633, a new cruciform church was completed right next to the old one. That building was demolished in 1759 after having been repaired several times over its existence. This church was a timber-framed cruciform design. A new church was completed in 1848 on the same site, but it burned down in 1873. A new, larger church to replace it was completed in 1877. The new 1877 church had a long church design instead of the cruciform design of previous buildings. This building was destroyed by fire on 17 May 1955. The present church building was completed in 1959.

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