{{short description|Church in Rogaland, Norway}} {{Infobox church |name = Sola Chapel |full_name = Sola kapell |former_name = Sola kirke |image = Sola Church.jpg |caption = View of the church |website = |coordinates = {{coord|58.89013|5.61904|region:NO_type:landmark|display=inline,title}} |location = [[Sola Municipality]], [[Rogaland]] |country = [[Norway]] |churchmanship = [[Evangelical Lutheran]] |denomination = [[Church of Norway]] |diocese = [[Diocese of Stavanger|Stavanger bispedømme]] |deanery = [[Tungenes prosti]] |parish = Sola |status = [[Parish church]] |functional_status = Active |founded = c. 1140 |consecrated = 1955 |completed = 1955 |closed = |events = |architect = [[Gustav Helland]] |architectural_type = [[Long church]] |style = |materials = Stone |capacity = 300 |embedded = {{Norwegian Cultural Heritage Site |embed = yes |Type = Church |Status = Not protected |ID = 85511 }} }}
'''Sola Chapel''' ({{langx|no|Sola kapell}}; historically: ''Sola Church'') is a [[parish church]] of the [[Church of Norway]] in [[Sola Municipality]] in [[Rogaland]] county, [[Norway]]. It is located in the village of [[Solakrossen]]. It formerly was the main church for the Sola [[parish]] which is part of the [[Tungenes prosti]] ([[deanery]]) in the [[Diocese of Stavanger]]. The stone church was built in a [[long church]] design in 1955 using designs by the [[architect]] [[Gustav Helland]]. The church seats about 300 people.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Sola kirke |url=https://kirkesok.no/kirke/421 |access-date=2020-10-18 |publisher=Kirkesøk: Kirkebyggdatabasen}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Oversikt over Nåværende Kirker |url=http://www.kirkekonsulenten.no/kirker.htm |access-date=2020-10-18 |publisher=KirkeKonsulenten.no |language=no}}</ref>
==History== [[File:Sola ruinkirke.jpg|thumb|left|View of the rebuilt medieval church]] The earliest existing historical records of the church in Sola date back to the year 1273, but it was built around the year 1140. The old stone church had a rectangular [[nave]] and a smaller rectangular [[chancel]]. There was a tower on the west end.
In 1814, this church served as an [[election church]] ({{langx|no|valgkirke}}).<ref name="lhw">{{Cite web |title=Valgkirkene |url=https://lokalhistoriewiki.no/wiki/Valgkirkene |access-date=2021-01-31 |website=LokalHistorieWiki.no |language=no}}</ref> 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 [[prestegjeld|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 at [[Eidsvoll Manor]] later that year.<ref name="lhw" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Om valgene |url=http://1814.arkivverket.no/#about-elections |access-date=2021-01-31 |website=Valgene i 1814 |publisher=Arkivverket |language=no}}</ref>
The church served Sola for centuries until 1840 when it was closed. The building stood vacant for 40 years and began to fall apart. In 1880, the building was purchased and turned into a private home. In 1940, the building was partially demolished and then its ruins sat for decades.<ref name="km1">{{Cite web |title=Sola middelalderkirke / Sola ruinkirke |url=http://www.kulturminnesok.no/kulturminnesok/kulturminne/?LOK_ID=85512 |access-date=2020-10-18 |publisher=[[Norwegian Directorate for Cultural Heritage]] |language=no}}</ref>
In 1955, a new Sola Church was constructed about {{convert|500|m}} to the east. In 1991, the old church ruins were rebuilt in a historical, but modern design using skylights. The old church was rededicated in 1995.<ref name="km1" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Sola kirkested |url=http://www.kulturminnesok.no/kulturminnesok/kulturminne/?LOK_ID=85511 |access-date=2020-10-18 |publisher=[[Norwegian Directorate for Cultural Heritage]] |language=no}}</ref>
The congregation used the "new" church for nearly 30 years and it grew significantly since this church was built. In 2015, the parish council approved a plan to build a new [[Sola Church]] in the village of Solakrossen.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ny kirke |url=http://www.sola.menighet.no/Ny-kirke |access-date=2016-05-22 |publisher=Sola menighet |language=no}}</ref> The new [[Sola Church]] was completed in 2020.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-10-13 |title=Søndag vigsles nye Sola kirke |url=https://kirken.no/nb-NO/bispedommer/stavanger/aktuelt/s%C3%B8ndag%20vigsles%20nye%20sola%20kirke/ |publisher=Sola kirkelige fellesråd |language=no}}</ref> After the new church was put into use, the name of this church was changed from ''Sola Church'' to ''Sola Chapel''.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-09-18 |title=Bispedømmerådet har vedtatt kirkenavn i Sola |url=https://kirken.no/nb-NO/bispedommer/stavanger/aktuelt/bisped%C3%B8mmer%C3%A5det%20har%20vedtatt%20kirkenavn%20i%20sola/ |access-date=2020-10-18 |publisher=Stavanger bispedømme}}</ref>
==See also== *[[List of churches in Rogaland]]
==References== {{reflist}}
{{Churches in Tungenes}} {{Authority control}} {{use dmy dates|date=October 2020}}
[[Category:Sola, Norway]] [[Category:Churches in Rogaland]] [[Category:Stone churches in Norway]] [[Category:20th-century Church of Norway church buildings]] [[Category:Churches completed in 1955]] [[Category:12th-century establishments in Norway]] [[Category:Norwegian election churches]]