Ringsaker Church

{{short description|Church in Innlandet, Norway}} {{Infobox church |name = Ringsaker Church |full_name = Ringsaker kirke |former_name = |image = Ringsaker kirke.JPG |caption = View of the church |website = |coordinates = {{coord|60.9028163353|10.72478055953|region:NO_type:landmark|display=inline,title|format=dms}} |location = [[Ringsaker Municipality]],<br />[[Innlandet]] |country = [[Norway]] |churchmanship = [[Evangelical Lutheran]] |denomination = [[Church of Norway]] |previous_denomination = [[Catholic Church]] |diocese = [[Diocese of Hamar|Hamar bispedømme]] |deanery = [[Ringsaker prosti]] |parish = Ringsaker |status = [[Parish church]] |functional_status = Active |founded = c. 1130 |consecrated = c. 1130 |completed = c. {{Start date and age|p=y|1130|br=yes}} |closed = |events = |architect = |architectural_type = [[Churches in Norway#Floor plan|Cruciform]] |style = |materials = Stone |capacity = 300 |embedded = {{Norwegian Cultural Heritage Site |embed = yes |Type = Church |Status = Automatically protected |ID = 85297 }} }}

'''Ringsaker Church''' ({{langx|no|Ringsaker kirke}}) is a [[parish church]] of the [[Church of Norway]] in [[Ringsaker Municipality]] in [[Innlandet]] county, [[Norway]]. It is located in the village of [[Moelv]]. It is the church for the Ringsaker [[parish]] which is part of the [[Ringsaker prosti]] ([[deanery]]) in the [[Diocese of Hamar]]. The white, stone church was built in a [[Churches in Norway#Floor plan|cruciform]] design around the year 1130 using plans drawn up by an unknown [[architect]]. The church seats about 300 people.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ringsaker kirke |url=https://kirkesok.no/kirke/041200101 |access-date=2022-01-07 |publisher=Kirkesøk: Kirkebyggdatabasen}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Oversikt over Nåværende Kirker |url=http://www.kirkekonsulenten.no/kirker.htm |access-date=2022-01-07 |publisher=KirkeKonsulenten.no |language=Norwegian}}</ref>

==History== The church in Ringsaker was built in the 12th century, possibly around the year 1130 or a little earlier. Ringsaker church is one of the best kept medieval stone churches in Norway, which has most of the original medieval features intact. The [[Romanesque architecture|Romanesque]] stone church originally had a [[long church]] design with a small [[Choir (architecture)|choir]] and a large tower above the centre of the nave (the tower did not have a tall spire, however). In the late 1200s, the church was expanded and given a lot of [[Gothic architecture|Gothic]] features. The choir was enlarged to the east and the [[nave]] was expanded by adding [[transept]] wings to the north and south, creating a [[cruciform]] floor plan. Interestingly, the north wing is longer than the south wing. A large [[sacristy]] was built on the north side of the choir. In 1594, a man named Matz Tårnbygger built a spire on top of the stone tower. In 1652, [[Werner Olsen]], the famous builder, constructed a new tower and spire. On 22 September 1669, the tower blew down in a storm. The church sat without a spire for many years until 1694 when Oluf Iversen Helmen built a new {{convert|64|m|adj=on}} tall spire.<ref name="kms">{{Cite web |title=Ringsaker kirkested |url=http://www.kulturminnesok.no/kulturminnesok/kulturminne/?LOK_ID=85297 |access-date=2022-01-07 |publisher=[[Norwegian Directorate for Cultural Heritage]] |language=Norwegian}}</ref><ref name="NK">{{Cite web |title=Ringsaker kirke |url=https://www.norske-kirker.net/home/hedmark/ringsaker-kirke/ |access-date=2022-01-07 |website=Norges-Kirker.no |language=Norwegian}}</ref>

The church has Norway’s third largest collection of stone grave memorials from the medieval times, the majority of these are found inside the church.

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=2022-01-07 |website=LokalHistorieWiki.no |language=Norwegian}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Valgkartet |url=http://1814.arkivverket.no/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624205923/http://1814.arkivverket.no/ |archive-date=24 June 2021 |access-date=2022-01-07 |website=Valgene i 1814 |publisher=Arkivverket |language=Norwegian }}</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=2022-01-07 |website=Valgene i 1814 |publisher=Arkivverket |language=Norwegian}}</ref>

==Media gallery== <gallery mode="packed" heights="180px"> Ringsaker kirke 66209 F09.jpg Ringsaker kirke 66208 F08.jpg The Ringsaker church -ringsaker -norway -photo -architecture (5461068542).jpg Ringsaker kirke 66300.jpg Ringsaker, Norway - panoramio (1).jpg Ringsaker kirke - no-nb digifoto 20150206 00054 NB MIT FNR 15888.jpg RINGSAKER KIRKE - an10071202154016.jpg Skipet i Ringsaker kirke.JPG Ringsaker kirke 66205 F05.jpg Ringsaker kirkes indre.jpg Alteret i Ringsaker kirke.JPG Dåpshus fra Ringsaker NF.1941-0148.jpg 11584 Ringsaker - Interiør fra den ca 900 år gamle kirke - no-nb digifoto 20150812 00059 bldsa PK26216 (cropped).jpg </gallery>

==See also== *[[List of churches in Hamar]]

==References== {{reflist}}

[[Category:Churches in Ringsaker Municipality]] [[Category:Churches in Innlandet]] [[Category:Cruciform churches in Norway]] [[Category:Stone churches in Norway]] [[Category:12th-century churches in Norway]] [[Category:12th-century establishments in Norway]] [[Category:Norwegian election churches]]