Øye Church

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Øye Church (Øye kyrkje) is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Surnadal Municipality, Møre og Romsdal county. It sits between the villages of Sylte and Skei and serves the Øye og Ranes parish in the Indre Nordmøre deanery of the Diocese of Møre. The white, wooden church you see today was built in 1871 in a long church design and seats about 300. It was designed by Jacob Wilhelm Nordan, with some changes by Hans Larsson Øye and Ole Scheistrøen, and it was consecrated on 30 June 1871.

The site has housed a church for many centuries. The earliest records mention Øye Church in 1589, and there was likely a stave church on the same site dating back to the 14th century. In the 1600s the church was enlarged to a cruciform layout. In 1724 the old medieval church was torn down and replaced with a timber-framed, elongated octagonal church with a tower on the nave and an east sacristy. In 1855 private owners sold the church to the local congregation. In 1870 the old building was demolished and the present church was completed the next year. The church was wired for electricity in 1934.