Búðakirkja (the Black Church)
Búðakirkja
Búðakirkja is a small, pitch-black wooden church standing alone on a lava field at Búðir, on the south coast of the Snæfellsnes peninsula, with no village left around it and open coastline and mountains as its only backdrop. Its stark silhouette against the lava and sky has made it one of the most photographed churches in Iceland.
Region
Snæfellsnes Peninsula
Coordinates
64.8217° N, 23.3840° W
Plan the stop
- Allow
- 30 min
Accessibility
- Wheelchair · Partial
- Level gravel parking and ground right up to the church exterior, but the church itself is not generally open to the public and has no visitor facilities.
- Limited mobility · Partial
- Flat gravel path from parking to the church exterior; the surrounding lava field is uneven underfoot.
- Sensory · Full
- A quiet, open coastal setting away from any village or crowds outside of weddings and other private events held inside.
- Cognitive · Full
- A single small building, simple to view and photograph from outside.
Why it matters
Bishop Jón Vídalín granted a building permit for a church at Búðir in 1701, and a turf chapel went up in 1703; a royal order dissolved the parish and let it fall into disuse in 1816. Decades of campaigning by local residents won permission for a new church, funded and maintained entirely by the community, and the present timber building went up in 1848. Its black colour comes from a coat of pitch tar traditionally used to protect Icelandic timber buildings from the weather, and it was carefully restored in 1987 by local volunteers working with National Museum of Iceland specialists. Búðir was once a significant medieval trading port; today the church, a nearby hotel, and scattered ruins are what remain of the settlement.