Frei Church


Frei Church is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Kristiansund Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is located in the village of Nedre Frei on the southern shore of the island of Frei. It is the church for the Frei parish which is part of the Ytre Nordmøre prosti in the Diocese of Møre. The yellow, wooden church was built in a long church style in 1897 by the architect Karl Norum. The church was built to replace an older building dating back to 1766. The church seats about 420 people.

History

The earliest existing historical records of the church date back to 1432. In the middle of the 1600s, the church was described as a stave church. It was renovated in 1665. In October 1766, the church was struck by lightning and it burned down. The church was rebuilt in a timber-framed cruciform design. That church was torn down in the spring of 1896. Parts of the old church were preserved and re-used in the construction of the present church building in 1897.