Norway’s Vibrant Vinje Church Surprises Visitors

Vinje church, situated on Vinjevatn lake in Telemark county, Norway, is a rural place of worship that stands out with its pale-pink exterior and painted pattern. The church was built in 1796 by Jarand Aasmundsson Rønjom, a woodcarver who used the traditional laft technique of walls of stacked, interlocking logs.

The church’s late Baroque style, complete with Tuscan-striping and carved Roman columns, is an unusually ambitious take on a traditional Norwegian church design. The exteriors of Norwegian churches are usually a solid black, white, or grey, making Vinje church’s colorful design all the more striking.

A century after it was built, the Vinje church was painted all white, inside and out, as was the trend at the time. However, artist Henrik Sørensen sought to restore the church’s original colors and add new ones, with the help of local artists and craftsmen.

Sørensen had spent many summers in the area and was familiar with Telemark’s rich history of woodcarving, rose painting, and folk music. The community granted him permission to restore the interior of the church, and the municipal office tasked Finn Krafft to uncover the original colors of the 1796 version. They worked together to achieve this goal.

Krafft discovered that the altar had been painted in subtle reds, greys, and blues, with a marbling effect on the columns and exterior edges. The rest of the church had simply been exposed wood. With the church primed all white, Sørensen and his team were free to reimagine the design, using a local decorative painting style and infusing it with artistic contributions.

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The team used a painting-by-numbers process, delegating zones to crews of painters and woodcarvers. The result was a colorful interior, with yellow, purple, red, and blue hues adorning the walls, rafters, and benches. The carved flowers of the balcony were highlighted in yellow against the red railing, and select panels in the banister were filled with painted angels.

During the restoration process, the team found a black book of spells from the 1500s, which is now in the collection of Katedralskolen in Oslo. Sørensen’s own decorative flair is on full display in the dome, with a fierce composition of fiery, angular flames around a quadratic composition in primary colors.

Vinje Church is a reflection of the Telemark culture and the strong sense of community that exists in the area.

The church’s location in Vinje municipality, Telemark county, Norway, makes it a unique and fascinating destination for those interested in large new space and history. With its rich history and stunning design, Vinje Church is a notable destination.