| Vardø Church | |
|---|---|
| Vardø kirke | |
 View of the church | |
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| 70°22′13″N31°06′43″E / 70.370278°N 31.111944°E /70.370278; 31.111944 | |
| Location | Vardø,Finnmark |
| Country | Norway |
| Denomination | Church of Norway |
| Churchmanship | Evangelical Lutheran |
| History | |
| Status | Parish church |
| Founded | c. 1307 |
| Consecrated | 5 Oct 1958 |
| Architecture | |
| Functional status | Active |
| Architect(s) | Eyvind Moestue |
| Architectural type | Long church |
| Completed | 1958 (67 years ago) (1958) |
| Specifications | |
| Capacity | 432 |
| Materials | Concrete |
| Administration | |
| Diocese | Nord-Hålogaland |
| Deanery | Varanger prosti |
| Parish | Vardø |
Vardø Church (Norwegian:Vardø kirke) is aparish church of theChurch of Norway inVardø Municipality inFinnmark county,Norway. It is located in thetown of Vardø on the island ofVardøya. It is the main church for the Vardøparish which is part of theVaranger prosti (deanery) in theDiocese of Nord-Hålogaland. The white, modern, concrete church was built in along church style in 1958 by thearchitectEyvind Moestue. It has a high roof with a steep pitch, with a tall triangular steeple. The church seats about 432 people.[1][2]
The earliest existing historical records of the church date back to the year 1307 when the oldest known church in Vardø wasconsecrated by the ArchbishopJorundr which is around the time that this part of Northern Norway was settled by Norwegians. The first church in Vardø was located about 190 metres (620 ft) south of the present site of the church. Not much is known about the first church, but in 1599 the church is described as a small timber building with room for about 100 people. A map from 1601 depicts the building outline which shows that it was along church with a rectangularnave and a narrowerchancel on the east end and a small entry porch on the west end. It is possible that there was a small tower oronion dome on top of the roof.[3]
In a 1709 inspection, the church was described as "just about to collapse", so plans were made for a new church. In 1714, a newtimber-framed,cruciform building was constructed about 190 metres (620 ft) north of the old church site. After the new church was opened, the old church was used for storage for a few years and was torn down around 1716.[3]
In 1814, this church served as anelection church (Norwegian:valgkirke).[4] Together with more than 300 other parish churches across Norway, it was a polling station for elections to the 1814Norwegian Constituent Assembly which wrote theConstitution of Norway. This was Norway's first national elections. Eachchurch parish was a constituency that elected people called "electors" who later met together in each county to elect the representatives for the assembly that was to meet inEidsvoll later that year.[4][5]
In 1869, the old church was torn down and a new church was constructed on the same site. The new building was designed by thearchitectChristian Heinrich Grosch. That wooden church stood for about 75 years before it was burned down by theretreating Germans near the end ofWorld War II. The parishioners met in a temporary house church from 1944 until the present church was completed in 1958. The new concrete church building wasconsecrated on 5 October 1958.[6][7]
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