Holt Church

{{Infobox church

|name = Holt Church

|fullname = Holt kirke

|former name =

|image = Tvedestrand Holt kirke a.JPG

|caption = View of the church

|website =

|coordinates = {{coord|58.606921|08.870548|region:NO_type:landmark|display=inline,title}}

|location = Tvedestrand Municipality,
Agder

|country = Norway

|churchmanship = Evangelical Lutheran

|denomination = Church of Norway

|previous denomination = Catholic Church

|diocese = Agder og Telemark

|deanery = Aust-Nedenes prosti

|parish = Holt

|status = Parish church

|functional status = Active

|founded date = c. 1100

|consecrated date = c. 1100

|completed date = c. {{Start date and age|p=y|1100|br=y}}

|closed date =

|events =

|architect =

|architectural type = Cruciform

|style =

|materials = Stone and wood

|capacity = 430

|embedded = {{Norwegian Cultural Heritage Site

|embed = yes

|Type = Church

|Status = Automatically protected

|ID = 84613

}} }}

Holt Church ({{langx|no|Holt kirke}}) is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Tvedestrand Municipality in Agder county, Norway. It is located just south of the village of Fiane. It is one of the churches for the Holt parish which is part of the Aust-Nedenes prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Agder og Telemark. The white, stone and wood church was originally built in a long church design around the year 1100 using plans drawn up by an unknown architect (later it was converted into a cruciform design). The church seats about 430 people.{{Cite web |title=Holt kirke, Tvedestrand |url=https://kirkesok.no/kirke/091400101 |access-date=2021-01-30 |publisher=Kirkesøk: Kirkebyggdatabasen}}{{Cite web |title=Oversikt over Nåværende Kirker |url=http://www.kirkekonsulenten.no/kirker.htm |access-date=2021-01-30 |publisher=KirkeKonsulenten.no |language=Norwegian}}

History

The earliest existing historical records of the church date back to the year 1374, but the church was likely built around 1100. The Romanesque stone building was originally built as a rectangular nave with a narrower, rectangular choir. In 1753, the old choir was torn down and two new timber-framed wings were added, along with a new choir, giving the building a cruciform design. The architect Lars Albretsen Øvernes led this renovation.{{Cite web |title=Holt kirkested |url=http://www.kulturminnesok.no/kulturminnesok/kulturminne/?LOK_ID=84613 |access-date=2021-01-30 |publisher=Norwegian Directorate for Cultural Heritage |language=Norwegian}}{{Cite web |title=Holt kirke |url=https://www.norske-kirker.net/home/aust-agder/holt-kirke/ |access-date=2021-01-03 |website=Norges-Kirker.no |language=Norwegian}}

In 1814, this church served as an election church ({{langx|no|valgkirke}}).{{Cite web |title=Valgkirkene |url=https://lokalhistoriewiki.no/wiki/Valgkirkene |access-date=2021-01-30 |website=LokalHistorieWiki.no |language=Norwegian}} Together with more than 300 other parish churches across Norway, it was a polling station for elections to the 1814 Norwegian Constituent Assembly which wrote the Constitution of Norway. This was Norway's first national elections. Each church parish was a constituency that elected people called "electors" who later met together in each county to elect the representatives for the assembly that was to meet in Eidsvoll later that year.{{Cite web |title=Om valgene |url=http://1814.arkivverket.no/#about-elections |access-date=2021-01-30 |website=Valgene i 1814 |publisher=Arkivverket |language=Norwegian |archive-date=24 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624205923/http://1814.arkivverket.no/#about-elections |url-status=dead }}