Berlevåg Church


Berlevåg Church is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Berlevåg municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. It is located in the village of Berlevåg. It is the church for the NAME parish which is part of the Varanger prosti in the Diocese of Nord-Hålogaland. The white, concrete church was built in a long church style in 1960 by the architect Hans Magnus. The church seats about 300 people.

History

There has been a church in the village of Berlevåg since 1886. Before this time, there was only a chapel and people in Berlevåg had to travel to Tana Church in Rustefjelbma which was a long, arduous journey. Berlevåg was part of the Tana parish until 1982, when the municipality became a separate parish.
The chapel in Berlevåg was not large enough to support the population of Berlevåg, so in 1885–1886 a new church was built to replace the chapel. It was consecrated on 9 September 1886. By the 1930s, the church was in need of repair and upgrades, so an extensive renovation was begun. After in work was completed, the church was re-consecrated on 7 April 1940. The retreating German army burned down the newly refurbished church in 1944.
After the end of World War II, it took a long time to rebuild all that had been destroyed during the war. Work on the new Berlevåg Church was completed in 1960. On 11 December 1960, Bishop Alf Wiig consecrated the new church building.