Vatne Church


Vatne Church is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Ålesund Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is located in the village of Vatne. It is the church for the Vatne parish which is part of the Nordre Sunnmøre prosti in the Diocese of Møre. The white, wooden church was built in a long church style in 1868 by the builder Meinhardt who used plans by the famous architect Jacob Wilhelm Nordan. The church seats about 550 people.

History

The earliest existing historical records of the church date back to 1432, but it was not a new church at that time. The old stave church was located on the eastern side of the lake Vatnevatnet. In 1760, the church was taken down and moved from its old location to a new location about to the west, on the other side of the lake. The new location at Osgota was a better location for the residents of the parish. When the church was reconstructed at its new location, the design of the building was changed as well. Rather than a stave church construction, this building had a timber-frame construction as well as a cruciform style. By the 1860s, the church had proved to be too small. A new church was constructed in 1868 on the same site as the old church.