Seim Church

About

Seim Church (Norwegian: Seim kyrkje) is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Alver Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is located in the village of Seim. It is one of the four churches for the Knarvik parish which is part of the Nordhordland prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Bjørgvin. The white, wooden church was built in a long church design in 1878 using plans drawn up by the architect Johannes Øvsthus from Hosanger. The church seats about 180 people.

History: The earliest existing historical records of the church date back to the year 1360, but it was likely built before that time. The first church was likely a wooden stave church and it was located about 500 metres (1,600 ft) southeast of the present location of the church. This medieval building was probably built during the 13th century and it was torn down around the year 1610. After tearing down the old church, a new timber-framed building on the same location was built. (An alternate theory is that in 1610, the old stave church was renovated and enlarged that year, since the new building was about twice as large as the old one. If that is the case, the old church may have been turned into the choir and sacristy...