Church Of Holm, Uppland

The Church of Holm is located in the Parish of Holm, between Lårstaviken and Gorran in

Mälaren Mälaren ( , , or ), historically referred to as Lake Malar in English, is the third-largest freshwater lake in Sweden (after Vänern and Vättern). Its area is and its greatest depth is 64 m (210 ft). Mälaren spans from east to west. The l ...

, 17 km north of

Bålsta Bålsta is a locality and the seat of Håbo Municipality, Uppsala County, Sweden with 13,138 inhabitants in 2015. Although not in Stockholm County, it has Bålsta Station, the north-western terminus of the Stockholm suburban rail system. Many i ...

, in the Municipality of

Enköping Enköping is a locality and the seat of Enköping Municipality, Uppsala County, Sweden with 30,000 inhabitants in 2018. Geography Enköping is situated near Lake Mälaren, about 78 km west of Stockholm. A comparably large number of S ...

Uppland Uppland is a historical province or ' on the eastern coast of Sweden, just north of Stockholm, the capital. It borders Södermanland, Västmanland and Gästrikland. It is also bounded by lake Mälaren and the Baltic Sea. The name literally ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. Holm is probably the smallest parish in Sweden today, with a population of 26 residents enlisted in the year 2000. The church was constructed in 1678 above the ruins of an earlier medieval church. From the start, the new church was closely connected with the nearby

Sjöö Castle Sjöö Castle (modern spelling: Sjö) is a castle in the tiny Parish of Holm (population in the year 2000: 26), in the Municipality of Enköping in Uppland, Sweden. The Sjöö Castle Palace with its park is considered one of the most beautiful in ...

(modern spelling: Sjö), which was built during the decade between 1669 and 1769 by a patron (Latin: patrōnus) of the church, the Marshal of the Realm of Sweden Johan Gabriel Stenbock (1640-1705). The first head of congregation working in the newly built church was the Rector (Swedish: "kyrkoherde") Andreas Hackzelius (1630-1681), who also headed the congregation of Kulla close by. The 17th-century patronage of the Church of Holm consisted of high-ranking statesmen and royal and other high noble friends and family members of Johan Gabriel Stenbock who owned Sjöö Castle and was one of the most powerful people within the

Realm of Sweden The Swedish Empire or the Great Power era () was the period in Swedish history spanning much of the 17th and early 18th centuries during which Sweden became a European great power that exercised territorial control over much of the Baltic regi ...

. In one 17th-century letter remaining to date, the Queen of Sweden Christina (1626-1689) compliments and thanks Rector Andreas Hackzelius for a church service and sermon given by him. The church was built in Italian style. It has a rectangular plan and a ridge roof. The design work was done either by

Nicodemus Tessin the Elder Nicodemus Tessin the Elder () (7 December 1615 – 24 May 1681) was an important Swedish architect. Biography Nicodemus Tessin was born in Stralsund in Pomerania and came to Sweden as a young man. There he met and worked with the architect Sim ...

Mathias Spieler Mathias Spihler (c. 1640 – February 1691) was a Swedish architect and master builder of German descent. Biography Spihler was born at Södermalm in Stockholm, Sweden. He aided Jean de la Vallée in the design and construction of Katarina K ...

or possibly both. At the time, the two architects were on the grounds to lead the work on the Castle's construction. Because the church has later burned twice, in 1723 and in 1822, basically only the stonewalls of the 17th-century church remain today. Otherwise, the present exterior of the church appearance is from the reconstruction work after the fire of 1822. The church decor is from the 1720s. A new sacristy for the church was designed in 1840. The church was repaired in 1950 when it was in poor condition, after having been used for many years as a granary. Above the altar in the church is a pulpit and above the pulpit is a small organ from the 17th century - it was donated to the Church in 1752. Above the middle aisle of the church is a 16-arm chandelier from around 1700. Today, the Church of Holm belongs to the Assembly of Lagunda in the Diocese of Uppsala. Uppland Churches in the Archdiocese of Uppsala 17th-century Church of Sweden church buildings Enköping Municipality Churches in Uppsala County 1678 establishments in Sweden