Mefjordvær Chapel () is a
chapel
A chapel (from , a diminutive of ''cappa'', meaning "little cape") is a Christianity, Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. First, smaller spaces inside a church that have their o ...
of the
Church of Norway
The Church of Norway (, , , ) is an Lutheranism, evangelical Lutheran denomination of Protestant Christianity and by far the largest Christian church in Norway. Christianity became the state religion of Norway around 1020, and was established a ...
in
Senja Municipality
Senja is a municipality in Troms county, Norway. It was established on 1 January 2020 when the municipalities of Berg, Lenvik, Torsken, and Tranøy were merged into one municipality. It is located in the traditional district of Hålogaland. ...
in
Troms
Troms (; ; ; ) is a Counties of Norway, county in northern Norway. It borders Finnmark county to the northeast and Nordland county in the southwest. Norrbotten Län in Sweden is located to the south and further southeast is a shorter border with ...
county,
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...
. It is located in the village of
Mefjordvær
Mefjordvær (historic spelling: ''Medfjordvær'') is a fishing village in Senja Municipality in Troms county, Norway. The village is located about northwest of the village of Senjahopen, along the Medfjorden on the northwest coast of the large S ...
on the northern coast of the island of
Senja
or is an island in Senja Municipality in Troms county, Norway in northern Europe. With an area of , it is the second largest island in Norway (outside of the Svalbard archipelago). It has a wild, mountainous outer (western) side facing the A ...
. It is an annex chapel for the Berg
parish
A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...
which is part of the
Senja prosti (
deanery
A deanery (or decanate) is an ecclesiastical entity in the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Anglican Communion, the Evangelical Church in Germany, and the Church of Norway. A deanery is either the jurisdiction or residence of ...
) in the
Diocese of Nord-Hålogaland
Nord-Hålogaland () is a diocese in the Church of Norway. It covers the Church of Norway churches in Troms and Finnmark counties as well as in the territory of Svalbard. The diocese is seated in the city of Tromsø at the Tromsø Cathedral, t ...
. The white, wooden chapel was built in a
long church
Church building in Norway began when Christianity in Norway, Christianity was established there around the year 1000. The first buildings may have been post churches erected in the 10th or 11th century, but the evidence is inconclusive. For inst ...
style in 1916 using plans drawn up by the
architect
An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...
Ludvig Lorentzen. The chapel seats about 120 people.
History
The earliest existing historical records of the church date back to the year 1589, but the church was not new that year. The original church site was located about northwest of the present church site. In 1641, the church was described as "newly improved", meaning the building must have been renovated or newly built. Over 100 years later, in 1753 the church was described as being dilapidated. By 1760, the church had been torn down and replaced with a new church on the same site. The new church was a
timber-framed
Timber framing () and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy Beam (structure), timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and Woodworking joints, joined timbers with joints secure ...
long church
Church building in Norway began when Christianity in Norway, Christianity was established there around the year 1000. The first buildings may have been post churches erected in the 10th or 11th century, but the evidence is inconclusive. For inst ...
with no tower or
sacristy
A sacristy, also known as a vestry or preparation room, is a room in Christianity, Christian churches for the keeping of vestments (such as the alb and chasuble) and other church furnishings, sacred vessels, and parish records.
The sacristy is us ...
. It had an entry porch and a
sod roof
A sod roof, or turf roof, is a traditional Scandinavian type of green roof covered with sod on top of several layers of birch bark on gently sloping wooden roof boards. Until the late 19th century, it was the most common roof on rural log h ...
. In 1809, the church was closed down and its furniture moved to the nearby
Berg Church. The old church was still standing vacant in 1818 and looking quite run down. Eventually, the old church was torn down.
About 100 years later, a new chapel was built in Mefjordvær, but this time it was built about southeast of the historic church site.
See also
*
List of churches in Nord-Hålogaland
This list of churches in Nord-Hålogaland is a list of the Church of Norway churches in the Diocese of Nord-Hålogaland in Norway. It includes all of the parishes in Finnmark and Troms counties. The diocese is based at the Tromsø Cathedral in the ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mefjordvaer Chapel
Senja
Churches in Troms
Wooden churches in Norway
20th-century Church of Norway church buildings
Churches completed in 1916
15th-century establishments in Norway
Long churches in Norway