Octagonal churches in Norway

An octagonal church has an octagonal (eight-sided polygon) architectural plan. The exterior and the interior (the nave) may be shaped as eight-sided polygon with approximately equal sides or only the nave is eight-sided supplemented by choir and porch (or narthex) attached to the octagon. This architectural plan is found in some 70 churches in Norway. Among these Hospitalskirken in Trondheim is the oldest. This type of church plan spread from the Diocese of Nidaros to other parts of Norway. Virtually all octagonal churches in Norway are constructed as log buildings mostly covered by clapboards. Some of the largest churches in Norway are octagonal and the list includes important cultural heritage monuments such as Trinity Church (Oslo), Sør-Fron Church and Røros Church.

This is the bright and solemn church room of classicism, whether it is such a large building [as Røros Church] or the modest rural log churches, the interior is covered and interconnected by cheerful colors of the Roccoco in marbling and ceiling. This was our last independent contribution to ecclesiastical architecture.

During the Middle Ages, some 1000 wooden stave church and only 270 masonry churches were erected in Norway. During the 15th and 16th centuries, virtually no new churches were built. When church building resumed around 1600, most stave churches disappeared and were often replaced by log churches. While in most of Europe only masonry churches were built, wood construction still dominated in Norway. During the 1600 the cruciform plan tended to replace the traditional simple rectangular plan (the ″long church″). In the cruciform church, view to the altar is partly obstructed by walls, a drawback not found in the octagonal shape. The octagonal shape also allows the pulpit to be the focal point, according to the ideals of the Reformation where the spoken word (the sermon) should be the central act. Lorentz Dietrichson believed that the octagonal church became popular because of the rationalism's need for the church as a lecture hall ("auditorium").

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