Follingbo Church ( sv, Follingbo kyrka) is a medieval church in
Follingbo on the Swedish island of
Gotland
Gotland (, ; ''Gutland'' in Gutnish), also historically spelled Gottland or Gothland (), is Sweden's largest island. It is also a province, county, municipality, and diocese. The province includes the islands of Fårö and Gotska Sandön to the ...
. Its
Romanesque nave and tower are noteworthy for the professionalism with which they were built. It lies in the
Diocese of Visby and is used of the
Church of Sweden
The Church of Sweden ( sv, Svenska kyrkan) is an Evangelical Lutheran national church in Sweden. A former state church, headquartered in Uppsala, with around 5.6 million members at year end 2021, it is the largest Christian denomination in Sw ...
.
History and architecture
The oldest parts of Follingbo Church are the
nave
The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...
and tower. They date from circa 1200 and together form an unusually accomplished example of Romanesque architecture on Gotland. Although lacking in ornamental sculpture, the tower and nave were clearly built by skilled and experienced builders, in contrast to some other Romanesque churches on Gotland. The
choir
A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which ...
is later (late 13th century) and already
Gothic
Gothic or Gothics may refer to:
People and languages
*Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes
**Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths
**Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
in style, and also considered unusual for its kind. The choir replaced an earlier, Romanesque choir with an apse. The current choir instead has a straight eastern wall, adorned with a single
tracery window, in which fragments of medieval
stained glass
Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...
panes remain.
The
sacristy
A sacristy, also known as a vestry or preparation room, is a room in Christian churches for the keeping of vestments (such as the alb and chasuble) and other church furnishings, sacred vessels, and parish records.
The sacristy is usually located ...
was built in 1820-21.
Inside, the church has a painted
ceiling
A ceiling is an overhead interior surface that covers the upper limits of a room. It is not generally considered a structural element, but a finished surface concealing the underside of the roof structure or the floor of a story above. Ceilings ...
, decorated at the end of the 17th century. Most of the furnishings are also from the 17th or 18th century. An exception is the undecorated
baptismal font
A baptismal font is an article of church furniture used for baptism.
Aspersion and affusion fonts
The fonts of many Christian denominations are for baptisms using a non-immersive method, such as aspersion (sprinkling) or affusion (pouring). ...
, which is medieval.
The church underwent a renovation in 1955-56.
Follingbo Church belongs to the Church of Sweden and lies within the Diocese of Visby.
References
Further reading
*
External links
*
{{Churches on Gotland
Churches in Gotland County
Churches in the Diocese of Visby
Churches converted from the Roman Catholic Church to the Church of Sweden