Voss Church

Historie

Voss Church is a parish church in Voss municipality in Hordaland county, Norway. It is located in the village of Vossevangen. The church is part of the Voss parish in the Hardanger og Voss deanery in the Diocese of Bjørgvin. The stone church was built in 1277 and it seats about 500 people.HistoryThe site of the present church may once have been occupied by a heathen temple. In 1023, King Olaf Haraldsen visited Vossevangen to convert the people to Christianity. Tradition says that he built a large stone cross at the site, which was probably the first Christian place of worship at Voss and it became the main church for Hordafylket during the Middle Ages. The first church here was built of wood, but it was replaced by a stone church in 1277. In a royal letter dating from 1271, King Magnus Lagabøte expressed his satisfaction that the parishioners were going to replace the wood building with a stone one, and he urged the continuation and completion of the task. When it was finished in 1277, the church was dedicated to Saint Michael. Restoration work was carried out on the church between 1919 and 1953 by Georg Greve.