Mikaelshulen
| Mikaelshulen
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| Location: |
Ski municipality , Vestfold og Telemark province , Norway |
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| Height : | 30 moh. | |
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Geographic location: |
59 ° 13 '11.9 " N , 9 ° 28' 31.7" E | |
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| Cadastral number: | 32983 | |
| Geology: | Gneiss , granite | |
| Type: | Rock cave | |
| Lighting: | no | |
| Overall length: | 20 m | |
| Particularities: | former cave church | |
Mikaelshulen (Michaelshöhle) or Sankt Mikaels kirke (Sankt-Michaels-Kirche) is a protected mountain cave in the municipality of Skien in the Norwegian province ( Fylke ) Vestfold og Telemark . It is located in the steep rock face about 30 meters above Lake Norsjø .
Creation of the cave
The cave was created by erosion . The loose rock of gneiss and granite was washed out of the mountain by waves and fjord ice as well as the pressure of the inland ice . The surrounding rock consists of harder gneiss. The cave was most likely further worked on by humans afterwards.
The cave entrance on the lake side is shaped in a semicircle and around four to five meters wide and high. Behind it the room opens up to a height of 5.70 meters. In total, the cave is 20 meters deep and seven meters wide.
History and meaning
The cave was used as a church in Catholic times and was dedicated to the Archangel Michael . It was decorated with a cross and an altar, and masses were held. A burial site was laid out on the top of the mountain. In addition, the cave was an important place of pilgrimage for pilgrims.
There are around 20 known Michael churches in Norway. They were often located in caves or on a mountain so that the Archangel Michael could fight the devil , who in battle took the form of a worm or a dragon.
In Bishop Eystein's jordebok from the 15th century, which corresponds to a land register, the Kirkja i Mikjálsbergi (Church in Michaelsberg) is listed. A description in Latin from 1643 calls it Templum Mirabile , the miraculous temple . This may be an allusion to the church, which was consecrated until 1537.
With the introduction of the Reformation up until 1843, the church remained the last refuge for Catholics. At that time monasticism was subject to a death penalty and Father Sylvester was the last monk in the area. When he died he was buried in the back wall of the church, which was believed to be the sacristy.
literature
- St. Mikalshulen i Thelemarken in Ny illustreret Tidende No. 22. Kristiania, May 4th 1879, p. 172 and 175.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Mikaelskirche and Mikaelshulen ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. - Kulturminnesøk , accessed January 23, 2013 (Norwegian)
- ↑ Kirken.no: Legends om Fader Sylvester og Hr. Povel. Beregnet for 10 åringer i Mikaelshula ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (DOC, Norwegian; 26 kB)
Web links
- skiensatlas accessed on January 23, 2013 (Norwegian)
- Skien Kommune: St. Mikaels kirke i fjellet (Norwegian)