Gildeskål gamle kirke

 

http://www.kirkesok.no/eng/kirker/Gildeskaal-gamle-kirke

The old Gildeskål church has firstly been build round about 1130. After it burned in 1711, the interior of the church has a classic baroque style from this time. Furthermore the church has been expended after the fire, so the church has an L-form since then. The walls are with a diameter of 1,6 m very thick and the old church door has been very small so that the people had to bend when they went inside.

 

The church has some specialties I have never seen in or never heard of in any other churches before. First of all the benches were allowed for both genders which is very uncommon for this time. The reason for this is that the church was meant to be a social encounter since this was one of the few possibilities for people to get to know each other and to find someone to marry. In the back of the church there are some really small benches which were meant for the Sami people to sit on. The Sami did not have a high reputation which is why they had to sit separated from the rest and at really uncomfortable places. Even worth than the benches for the Sami people were the sitting places for the poor people which consist of a small wooden board almost on the ground everywhere around the normal benches. In the back corner on the church is a special cage where the children got baptized. This cage had a special entrance since children have been seen as not pure and were not allowed to enter the church before they have been baptized. Even the mothers were not allowed to join the service for some time after they gave birth. What fascinated me the most, are all the other cages in the church. These cages could have been rented by rich people or were reserved for the priest’s family, so that they could separate themselves from the others. They have been built even though they were already out of fashion in this time. On the altar is one of the rare hourglasses, which the priest used to see how long they already preach.Also the painting on the benches is special since it is not uniform. In the back of the church are some nature paintings from early 18 hundreds whereas the rest in painted in the old baroque style.

Nature paintings

Baptizing cage