Harøy Church

Harøy Church () is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Ålesund Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway.  It is located in the central part of the island of Harøya, just north of the Lomstjønna Nature Reserve.  It is one of the two churches for the Sandøy parish which is part of the Nordre Sunnmøre prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Møre.  The white, wooden church was built in a long church style in 1934 by the architects Fredrik Ziegler Kavli and Paul S. Michelsen.  The church seats about 340 people. 

History
The earliest existing historical records of the church date back to 1589, but it was an old, dilapidated building by that time.  Originally, the church was located at Huse on the island of Harøya, about  north of the present location of the church.  Originally the church was an annex church to the main Aukra Church in the Aukra prestegjeld.  Since this annex church was built on a rocky island, there was no graveyard surrounding the church.  Parishioners had to travel to Aukra Church to bury their dead. 

In 1812, both the Sandøy Church and Harøy Church were in poor condition, so they both were torn down.  To replace them both, a single new church was constructed on the west side of the island of Sandøya, about  northwest of the former location of the Sandøy Church which made it closer to Harøya island than the previous location of the church.  This meant that the residents of Harøya island had to travel by boat to Sandøy Church rather than having a church on their own island.  This new building was built on better ground, so it was able to have a graveyard around the church.  In 1907, a new graveyard was built on the island of Harøya so that residents didn't have to travel as far to bury their dead.  The graveyard was located about  south of the site of the Old Harøy Church.  In 1934, it was decided that a church should be built on Harøya island, so it was built adjacent to this cemetery. 

See also
List of churches in Møre

References

Category:Buildings and structures in Ålesund
Category:Churches in Møre og Romsdal
Category:Wooden churches in Norway
Category:20th-century Church of Norway church buildings
Category:Churches completed in 1934
Category:15th-century establishments in Norway