Sør-Fron Church

Sør-Fron Church
Sør-Fron kyrkje
Gudbrandsdalsdomen
View of the church from the south-west
61°33′31″N 9°56′32″E / 61.5586577967°N 9.94222220780°E / 61.5586577967; 9.94222220780
LocationSør-Fron Municipality,
Innlandet
CountryNorway
DenominationChurch of Norway
Previous denominationCatholic Church
ChurchmanshipEvangelical Lutheran
History
StatusParish church
Founded13th century
Consecrated28 March 1792
Architecture
Functional statusActive
Architect(s)Svend Aspaas
Architectural typeOctagonal
StyleBaroque
Completed1792 (1792)
Specifications
Capacity750
MaterialsStone
Administration
DioceseHamar bispedømme
DeanerySør-Gudbrandsdal prosti
ParishSør-Fron
TypeChurch
StatusAutomatically protected
ID85052

Sør-Fron Church (Norwegian: Sør-Fron kyrkje) is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Sør-Fron Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the village of Hundorp. It is the church for the Sør-Fron parish which is part of the Sør-Gudbrandsdal prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Hamar. The white, stone church was built in an octagonal design in 1792 using plans drawn up by the architect Svend Aspaas. The church seats about 750 people.

Because of size (750 seats) and central location in the Gudbrandsdalen valley, it has been nicknamed the Gudbrandsdalen cathedral (Norwegian: Gudbrandsdalsdomen). The church has an octagonal floor plan and it is decorated in a colorful baroque style. It is one of the few rural churches from the 1700s in Norway that is constructed out of stone. Its style and design was unusual or unique in Norway at the time of construction.

The church is described as the greatest building of the 1700s in Gudbrandsdalen. Muri describes the interior as holistic. and Hosar believes the building to be imposing and very sophisticated for its time. Harry Fett described the building as "graceful" and believed that Røros Church as well as local wood carving traditions influenced the design. According to Hosar, Sør-Fron church left few traces on subsequent church construction in Gudbrandsdalen, possibly because a period of extensive church building just came to an end. Sør-Fron Church served as a model for Grytten Church (in the present-day Rauma Municipality), the latter constructed in timber. Grytten Church is the only directly modeled on Sør-Fron Church, this most clearly seen in the interior. Unlike Sør-Fron church, Grytten Church is a regular octagon and the roof is straight without the small jump that is characteristic for Sør-Fron church.