Melhus Church

Melhus Church
Melhus kirke
View of the church and cemetery
63°16′25″N 10°17′33″E / 63.2735°N 10.2924°E / 63.2735; 10.2924Coordinates: 63°16′25″N 10°17′33″E / 63.2735°N 10.2924°E / 63.2735; 10.2924
Location	Melhus, Sør Trøndelag
Country	Norway
Denomination	Church of Norway
Churchmanship	Evangelical Lutheran
Website	Official Website
Architecture
Status	Parish church
Functional status	Active
Architect(s)	Carl Julius Bergstrøm
Completed	1892
Specifications
Capacity	700
Administration
Parish	Melhus
Deanery	Gauldal
Diocese	Diocese of Nidaros

Melhus Church (Norwegian: Melhus kirke), also known as "the Gauldal Cathedral", is a large stone Protestant church in Melhus municipality, Sør-Trøndelag county, Norway. It was built in 1892, after the older (medieval) church building was demolished. The churchyard contains a cemetery.

The church contains a controversial oil painting, which has been thought to be a portrait of Petter Dass.

The church stands in a scenic valley. In 1589, there were five churches in Melhus prestegjeld (more or less equivalent to a parish), but Melhus Church was the main one. Two of the five churches were located in Leinstrand and Flå; the remaining two churches were in Hølonda.

In 1889, a Royal Decree was issued which ordered that the old Melhus Church be demolished. During this demolition, in 1890, a perfectly preserved hatchet dating from about 1100 was discovered in a wall of the medieval church. This axe was identified as the country's only preserved tool for cutting stone (Norwegian: "steinhuggerøks") from that period, and it is now located in the Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology.

Although the old church was torn down, several architectural elements of the medieval building were saved and incorporated into the new building. Much woodwork from the old church was included in the newer one. The old portal was also reused in the new church.

Apparently a few artifacts from the old church were not moved to the new church, and instead ended up in other places. When Gerhard Schøning visited the old medieval church he noticed this: "At the southern side of the entrance to the choir, there is an epitaph that Karen and Anders Helkands have erected to their parents and children". When the medieval church was demolished in 1890, the epitaph was no longer there. Few people knew that the epitaph was hidden on Søndre Melhuus farm.