Búðakirkja
Búðakirkja is a church in West Iceland, Iceland — about 178 km from Reykjavik and reached by a straightforward drive from the nearest highway turnoff. Shoot it year-round, though winter wind, ice, and short daylight rework the shot list, then use the GPS coordinates, parking notes, and nearby waypoints below to fold this stop into a longer photography route.
Overview
This black church sits alone among a field of lava rock.
As a photography stop, Búðakirkja is a church in West Iceland, roughly 178 km from Reykjavik, reached by a straightforward drive from the nearest highway turnoff. Plan the shoot year-round, though winter wind, ice, and short daylight rework the shot list. The downloadable Church map pins exact GPS coordinates, parking, and nearby waypoints so you can fold it into a wider route instead of hunting for the pull-off on arrival.
Búðakirkja is one waypoint of many — you can load the Iceland church route map before you leave signal.
Notes on this location
Compiled from published sources rather than a visit. Sources are listed below.
The black church at Búðir on Snæfellsnes. A church stood here from 1703 — a turf building that fell into disuse and was demolished — and the present one is an 1848 reconstruction, its exterior wood coated in pitch against the weather.
- The first church
- Built 1703; a turf church that later fell into disuse and was demolished
- The present building
- A reconstruction of 1848
- Why it is black
- The exterior wood is coated in pitch — once common practice for protection against Icelandic weather
- Not in the source
- The page cited does not carry the widely told account of Steinunn Sveinsdóttir rebuilding the church after appealing to the king, the door-ring inscription, or any later restoration date
A black building on open ground is an exposure problem before it is a compositional one — it will sit below everything around it, and metering for the sky loses the church entirely. Pitch-coated wood is also matt rather than glossy, so it takes no highlight to give it shape; the form has to come from the angle and from what is behind it.
Light & aurora at this spot
Calculated from this location’s coordinates (64.822, -23.385). Iceland stays on UTC year-round, so these are local times.
- Summer
- 21.7 h of daylight in June and the sun barely sets, dipping only 1.9° below the horizon — effectively continuous golden light through the small hours.
- Winter
- December: only 3.8 h of daylight (11:34–15:23), but the sun never climbs above 1.9° — the entire day is golden hour. Sunrise bears SSE, sunset SSW.
- Aurora
- Aurora-grade darkness Sep–Mar, peaking at 13 h a night in December. Not possible Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug — the sky never gets dark enough.
Bar height is daylight hours. Months marked • have enough astronomical darkness for aurora; the rest do not.
Questions & answers
Búðakirkja is a church in West Iceland, Iceland, approximately 178 km from Reykjavik. Exact GPS coordinates are included in the downloadable Church map.
The recommended season for Búðakirkja is All. For light, plan around blue hour and the first hour after sunrise; Iceland's long shoulder-season twilight extends usable conditions on either side.
Drive access. A standard rental car works in most seasons; check road status in winter before committing. The downloadable GPS map puts the waypoint on your phone; your own app routes you to it from wherever you are.
Yes — Búðakirkja can be visited year-round, though winter conditions may require a 4x4 or storm-tolerant plans.