Røst church was built in 1899 and consecrated in 1900, originally as an annex church to Værøy. The church is a long timber church with 285 seats. The interior is in Art Nouveau style, with period colours inside.
The cabinet was made in the northern Netherlands, probably Utrecht, somewhere between 1511 and 1520.The cabinet is part of a collection of cabinets known as the Leka Group. The cabinets can be found in churches in Ørsta, Grip, Leka, Hadsel and Røst.There is a legend of unknown origin about the altar cabinet: On July 15, 1515, 14-year-old Princess Isabella of Burgundy/Habsburg, later Elisabeth, set out on the journey that would take her to Copenhagen and her wedding to the Danish-Norwegian King Kristian 2. She was accompanied by the Archbishop of Nidaros, Erik Valkendorf, as her priest and spiritual advisor. During the trip, there was a terrible storm, and the princess became very ill and frightened. She sent for the archbishop and promised to donate a gift to her new homeland if she arrived safely. The gift was five altar cabinets. Archbishop Valkendorf chose five churches in his diocese, stretching from Sunnmøre to Finnmark, as recipients of the altar cabinets.
Pietro Querini wrote about the Røstværingen’s relationship to church and religion in his diary.
Helpful links
Røst official tourism website: https://visitrost.no/
Interactive map: https://kart.visitrost.no/kart/?Walk=17
