Gimsøy Church (Telemark)

Gimsøy Church (Norwegian: Gimsøy kirke) is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Skien Municipality in Telemark county, Norway. It is located in the Gimsøy area of the town of Skien. It is one of the churches for the Gimsøy og Nenset parish which is part of the Skien prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Agder og Telemark. The gray, stone church was built in a long church design in 1922 using plans drawn up by the architect Gunnar Norby. The church seats about 200 people.^[1][2][3]

Gimsøy Church
Gimsøy kirke
View of the church
59°11′31″N 9°36′16″E
Location	Skien Municipality, Telemark
Country	Norway
Denomination	Church of Norway
Churchmanship	Evangelical Lutheran
History
Status	Parish church
Founded	1922
Consecrated	10 December 1922
Architecture
Functional status	Active
Architect(s)	Gunnar Norby
Architectural type	Long church
Completed	1922 (102 years ago) (1922)
Specifications
Capacity	200
Materials	Stone
Administration
Diocese	Agder og Telemark
Deanery	Skien prosti
Parish	Gimsøy og Nenset
Norwegian Cultural Heritage Site
Type	Church
Status	Listed
ID	84242

History

Gimsøy Abbey was a large farm owner and powerful entity in the Skien area during the Middle Ages. It was located on the island of Gimsøy which was located in the Farelva river (now the island is known as Klosterøya, meaning "Abbey Island"). The Abbey was closed after the Reformation and then it burned down in 1546, with no trace of it left today. After the town of Skien was enlarged in 1916, it became important for this area to have its own chapel and cemetery. The cemetery was built first — in 1919 — and then the chapel followed a couple of years later on a site about 750 metres (2,460 ft) to the southwest of the old Abbey site. The new Gimsøy Chapel was designed by Gunnar Nordby and it was consecrated on 10 December 1922. The new chapel was built as a long church out of plastered stone. The choir has an apse on its east end and it's surrounded by a sacristy. The church was restored in 1972, when windows with stained glass were inserted in the choir wall.^[4][5]

Media gallery

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See also

• List of churches in Agder og Telemark

References

1. "Gimsøy kirke, Skien". Kirkesøk: Kirkebyggdatabasen. Retrieved 23 December 2022.
2. "Oversikt over Nåværende Kirker" (in Norwegian). KirkeKonsulenten.no. Retrieved 23 December 2022.
3. Rasmussen, Alf Henry. Våre kirker: Norsk kirkeleksikon (in Norwegian). Kirkenær, Norge: Vanebo forlag. p. 500. ISBN 8275270227. Retrieved 23 December 2022.
4. "Gimsøy kirkested / Gimsøy kirke 2" (in Norwegian). Norwegian Directorate for Cultural Heritage. Retrieved 23 December 2022.
5. "Gimsøy kirke". Norges-Kirker.no (in Norwegian). Retrieved 23 December 2022.