Silent Sunday…. so off to Church

The Parish Church of Sortland, Nordland, Norway

On our recent trip to Northern Norway we stumbled across this rather attractive wooden Church in the town of Sortland.

With its pristine exterior shining white in the autumnal sunshine, it was like a magnet and we felt we just had to see what the interior was like.  I am always amazed at the skill of the craftsmen in sculpting from wood the intricate décor.  Nor did this interior disappoint, let me show you round.

As churches go I guess this one is not that old.  It was built in 1902,  so relatively young…. but it does replace an earlier wooden church that had begone to show its age and had to be demolished.  Like many religious sites it has been a place of religious significance  for many centuries.  I was told that records in the parish have references to the site back to 1381, but as always it is suspected, though not recorded, that its history goes back to even earlier times.

 Standing proudly on a rise above the town Sortland’s Parish Church makes a bold statement of its importance to the community.

27th October

(C) David Oakes 2019