Korskirken

Korskirken (lit. The Cross Church) is a special parish church in Bergen municipality in Hordaland county, Norway. It is located in the centre of the city of Bergen, just east of the head of the Vågen bay. The cruciform church is part of the "Bergen domkirke" parish in the Bergen arch-deanery in the Diocese of Bjørgvin. The first church on the site was built around the year 1150, and it currently seats about 600 people.

The church was a parish church for the Korskirken parish in central Bergen from 1320 until 2002. In 2002, several urban parishes in central Bergen were merged to form the "Bergen domkirke" parish. At the same time, Korskirken ceased to be a parish church. It was given over to the Church City Mission (Kirkens Bymisjon), and is now a special church in the urban parish. The church is an "open church" that is staffed every day so that people can experience silence or participate in the lighting of candles, conversation, community, attending church services, or listening to music. The Church City Mission focuses a lot on social work among the urban neighborhood as well as religious outreach.

Church of the Cross, Oslo

Church of the Cross (in full Church of the Holy Cross, Norwegian: Korskirken) was a small, Medieval parish church for the northern part of the Old Town of Oslo, Norway. The ruin was rediscovered in 1922 and is now a part of the Ruin Park containing the ruins of the church and the greater St. Hallvard's Cathedral.

History

There is no definite information about when the church was built. The church is not mentioned in the sources of the fighting in Oslo in 1240 between King Haakon IV and Duke Skule, suggesting that it is possibly younger. In 1989 it was found a stick with runic inscriptions, dated to the first half of the 13th century. The name Church of the Cross occurs in these inscriptions, and it indicates that it may be older than 1240. When the church was built, it was located far north in the city, and an urban development north of the church came in the second half of the 13th century and the 14th century.

Church of the Cross had input from the west, from the cemetery, an entrance from the west and an entrance directly to the chancel from the south. The remains of the original altar foundation is visible. Around the church are the remains of the cemetery wall.