Tórshavn Cathedral
The Tórshavn Cathedral ( Faroese Havnar Kirkja, pronunciation: [ haunaɹ ʧɪɹʧa ], or Domkirkjan, pronunciation: [ ˌ dɔum ʧɪɹʧan ] ) in the old town of Tórshavn is the second oldest church of the Faroe Islands.
It is a white painted and covered with slate building, which was built in 1788. The cathedral is located in the north of Tinganes peninsula and is one of the main attractions of the city. Like most churches of the country it belongs to the Evangelical Lutheran State Church of the Faroe Islands.
Since 1990 she has been the seat of the bishop of the Faroes and is therefore named the Cathedral. The writer Oddvør Johansen deserves a living as an organist.
Prehistory
The history of the church is quite complicated. Apparently there was in the Middle Ages no real church in Torshavn, at best, a " house of prayer ". The service may have been held in the Munkastovan in Tinganes.
Only in 1609 was a real church on a rocky hill called, built " úti á Reyni " in Tinganes when King Christian IV commissioned the lord of Bergenhus, " to let the inhabitants of the Faroe Islands to get some wood for the construction of their church .. "..
Rasmus Jørgen Winther 1780 Pastor in Tórshavn, and in 1782 he took the initiative to build a new church. However, this was in 1788, completed by Johannes Poulsen, the builder in Tórshavn. The Church Christian IV was demolished after the inauguration of the new church and auctioned the wood at auction. A portion of the inventory was transferred to the new church.
When the new church was built in 1788, Tórshavn was still so small that one could well say that the Church "north of the city was ". The population of Tórshavn in 1788 amounted to about 600 and 1865 approximately 900 Today, the church is surrounded by buildings.
There is no detailed description or survey of the church, except individual drawings and some old photos. From this it can be seen that they saw the churches in the villages quite similar, which were built on the islands during the first half of the 19th century.
The English Maria expedition of 1854 describes the church as:
The reconstruction of the church, which was built by the native in Iceland builder Guðmundur Sigurðsson, called Sivertsen, 1865 carried out, though changed the exterior of the church, but touched only slightly the inner structural form of the church of 1788. Broadly speaking, the structure of get church from 1865 remained.
In 1935, however, extended the choir stalls by four meters, installed as a heating system and a new vestry was built. 1968, the choir was expanded with an office and other ancillary rooms. In the nave are 44 benches in the gallery 14
The altarpiece
On the north wall of the nave is an altar from 1647 with a painting of the " Lord's Supper " and the following Danish inscription:
It is a fairly simple work of the late Renaissance, with a main part, which is flanked by pilasters crumbled, a Piedestalteil and a small top. The painting of the main part, the Holy Communion, belongs to the large group of Danish paintings from the 17th century, which were derived from the paintings for the Franciscan Monastery in Munich by Peter Candid, court painter William the V. of Bavaria, and spread through the bites of Raphael Sadeler. In 1961, a painting by Ernst and Holmer Trier was renovated in cooperation with the local painter Fraser Eysturoy. It measures 100 × 100 cm.
The bell of the " Norske Løve "
It is said that the bell was purchased in 1708. It comes from the ship Norske Løve ( Norwegian Lion), which went down in Lambavík New Year's Eve 1707. The bell is decorated with palmettes and bears the inscription: " Danscke East Indian dance companies Scheb Nordic Løve 1704 " and the gilded monogram of the company. The height is 30 cm and the diameter of the outermost periphery is 41.5 cm.