Svarstad Church, Larvik, Norway

The earliest existing historical records of the Svarstad church date back to the year 1359, but the church was not built that year. It is said that the first church was a wooden stave church and it may have been built around the year 1200. That church was dedicated to St. Olav. Two of the decorative portal planks from this church have been preserved at the Museum of Cultural History, Oslo for a long time. The old church had a fire in 1392 and it was either repaired or completely rebuilt in 1395. By the end of the 17th century, the church was considered to be far too small for the parish. In 1651, a builder was hired to enlarge the church, but it was ultimately decided to build a new building on the same site. The new church was consecrated in 1657. The new building was a wooden long church with a rectangular nave and a smaller chancel on the east end. The church was owned by the Count of Larvik until it was sold to the congregation in 1764.

In 1814, this church served as an election church (valgkirke). Together with more than 300 other parish churches across Norway, it was a polling station for elections to the 1814 Norwegian Constituent Assembly which wrote the Constitution of Norway. This was Norway's first national elections. Each church parish was a constituency that elected people called 'electors' who later met together in each county to elect the representatives for the assembly that was to meet in Eidsvoll later that year.

In 1866-1867, the church was renovated. The whole roof was rebuilt and a new tower on the nave roof was built. This renovation also included the construction of a small sacristy built on the east end of the chancel and a church porch on the west end of the nave.

References:

Wikipedia

Religious sites in Norway

User Reviews

Tore S (2 years ago)
Nicely located church from 1657 in the center of Svarstad. 220 places. Rich interior.

Grete Bratne (2 years ago)
The first church on the site was built around the year 1000, so here we are talking about historical grounds! Around the year 1200, a stave church was built, dedicated to Olav the Saint, but it burned down in 1392 and then a new church was consecrated in 1395. In the 17th century, this church was found to be too small and it was eventually decided to build a brand new. And in 1657, today's church was consecrated. At that time, it was the count who owned the churches in the area. Count Frederik Christian Otto von Wedel Jarlsberg (1718-1776) took over 70,000 riksdaler in debt after his father who died in 1738 and also had more expenses than income - and perhaps that was why the church was sold to the congregation in 1764. Anyway, beautiful is it, as a framework for both happy and sad actions. - Many years ago I heard a legend about the big oak at the back. There must have been two lovers who were not allowed to marry each other. In earlier times, it was not a matter of course to be able to marry whoever you wanted - and for these two it was so dramatic that they chose to die together. And this was at the time, when those who themselves chose to end their lives could not be buried in consecrated ground - and thus they were buried next to each other on the outside. On each grave an oak grew up and over time the two oaks grew together❣️- and even later they were still incorporated into consecrated ground. True or not, the legend is both incredibly sad and romantic! And if it is true, then at least it should not be forgotten.

Simon Berg (5 years ago)
Lågendalen's white rose. Gorgeous. Decorations inside are amazing. Unfortunately, it is too rarely visited by us. Christmas Eve is magical in this church. A landmark in Lågendalen The Svarstadværingen can be very proud of

Per Foss (6 years ago)
Wooden church with painted walls and wooden benches

Kristin Andresen (6 years ago)
Cozy church, where you should visit ?

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