Bjoa Church
Bjoa kyrkje
View of the church
59°39′54″N 5°38′40″E / 59.664950°N 5.644399°E / 59.664950; 5.644399
Location	Vindafjord Municipality, Rogaland
Country	Norway
Denomination	Church of Norway
Churchmanship	Evangelical Lutheran
History
Status	Parish church
Founded	Middle Ages
Consecrated	1895
Architecture
Functional status	Active
Architect(s)	Hartvig Sverdrup Eckhoff
Architectural type	Long church
Style	Neo-Gothic
Completed	1895 (129 years ago) (1895)
Specifications
Capacity	250
Materials	Wood
Administration
Diocese	Stavanger bispedømme
Deanery	Haugaland prosti
Parish	Ølen og Bjoa
Norwegian Cultural Heritage Site
Type	Church
Status	Not protected
ID	83898

Bjoa Church (Norwegian: Bjoa kyrkje) is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Vindafjord Municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. It is located in the village of Bjoa. It is one of the two churches for the Ølen og Bjoa parish which is part of the Haugaland prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Stavanger. The white, wooden church was built in a long church design and in a neo-gothic style in 1895 using designs by the architect Hartvig Sverdrup Eckhoff. The church seats about 250 people.^[1][2]

History

The earliest existing historical records of the church date back to the 1300s. The location of the medieval church is somewhat unclear. According to local traditions as well as recent studies, there are several possible locations for the church at Bjoa:^[3]

• One site is located on the farm known as Innbjoa 10, about 200 metres (660 ft) east of the present location of the church where there was a 12-metre (39 ft) long remnant of a foundation wall with a right-angled end. According to legend, there was a monastery or church located at that site.
• Another possible location is on the farm known as Innbjoa 4, about 150 metres (490 ft) southeast of the church. A local man born 1890 was the source of this information.
• Some historical records refer to the church at Bjoa and it makes it seem like the church was located on the same site as the present church.

Regardless of where the church was located, in 1895, a new church was constructed on the present site and the old church was torn down.