Sildpollnes Church


Sildpollnes Church is a chapel of the Church of Norway in Vågan Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is located on the Sildpollneset peninsula on the island of Austvågøya. It is an annex chapel in the Svolvær parish which is part of the Lofoten prosti in the Diocese of Sør-Hålogaland. The white, wooden chapel was built in a long church style in 1891.
The building was completed in 1891 as a bedehus and in 1961 its status was upgraded to that of a chapel. The church is a very popular tourist location due to its location on a peninsula in the middle of a fjord with mountains in the background. It is located very close to European route E10, so it is easy to get to and photograph it.
The church sits on a small peninsula that is surrounded by water on three sides. Before the building of the church in 1890, the parish received permission to build a pathway through the neighbor's private property to access the church. For over 100 years, this agreement was in effect with no problems. In 2015, the church was closed because the current neighbor refused to let people through his property to reach the church because he said the 1890 agreement only covered pedestrians, not automobiles. The case was in court for some time and in 2018, the Lofoten District Court ruled in favor of the church, permitting people to use the driveway once again.