Gustaf Vasa Church ( sv, Gustaf Vasa kyrka) is a church located in the Vasastaden district of

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

. Inaugurated in 1906 and named after 16th century King

Gustav Vasa Gustav I, born Gustav Eriksson of the Vasa noble family and later known as Gustav Vasa (12 May 1496 – 29 September 1560), was King of Sweden from 1523 until his death in 1560, previously self-recognised Protector of the Realm ('' Riksföre ...

, it was designed by architect

Agi Lindegren August "Agi" Lindegren (December 29, 1858 – 16 November 1927) was a Swedish architect and illustrator. Biography Lindegren was born at Hudiksvall in Gävleborg County, Sweden. He studied at the KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm ...

in the

Baroque Revival The Baroque Revival, also known as Neo-Baroque (or Second Empire architecture in France and Wilhelminism in Germany), was an architectural style of the late 19th century. The term is used to describe architecture and architectural sculptur ...

style. Situated between two busy avenues partially lined with trees, its dome rises above the nearby

Odenplan Odenplan is a plaza located in the district Vasastaden in central Stockholm, Sweden. History Odenplan was named after the old Norse god Odin. Odenplan metro station, opened in 1952, and Stockholm Odenplan commuter train station on the Stockh ...

plaza. The

floor plan In architecture and building engineering, a floor plan is a technical drawing to scale, showing a view from above, of the relationships between rooms, spaces, traffic patterns, and other physical features at one level of a structure. Dimensio ...

is in the shape of a

Greek cross The Christian cross, with or without a figure of Christ included, is the main religious symbol of Christianity. A cross with a figure of Christ affixed to it is termed a ''crucifix'' and the figure is often referred to as the ''corpus'' (La ...

and seats 1,200 people, making it one of the largest churches in Stockholm.

Interior

The high

altarpiece An altarpiece is an artwork such as a painting, sculpture or relief representing a religious subject made for placing at the back of or behind the altar of a Christian church. Though most commonly used for a single work of art such as a painting o ...

was designed and built by

Burchard Precht Burchard Precht (24 October 1651 – 26 February 1738) was a Swedish-German furniture maker and sculptor. He is best known for his contributions to Stockholm Cathedral and Uppsala Cathedral; he designed the altarpiece for Uppsala in 1728. Prech ...

in his workshop between 1728 and 1731. It is Sweden's largest sculptural work in the

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

style, originally created for the

Uppsala Cathedral Uppsala Cathedral ( sv, Uppsala domkyrka) is a cathedral located between the University Hall of Uppsala University and the Fyris river in the centre of Uppsala, Sweden. A church of the Church of Sweden, the national church, in the Lutheran tra ...

. Stored away at the

Skansen Skansen (; "the Sconce") is the oldest open-air museum and zoo in Sweden located on the island Djurgården in Stockholm, Sweden. It was opened on 11 October 1891 by Artur Hazelius (1833–1901) to show the way of life in the different parts of S ...

museum for several years, it finally ended up at the Gustaf Vasa Church in 1906. The interior of the dome was painted by

Viktor Andren The name Victor or Viktor may refer to: * Victor (name), including a list of people with the given name, mononym, or surname Arts and entertainment Film * ''Victor'' (1951 film), a French drama film * ''Victor'' (1993 film), a French shor ...

, and features an interpretation of the

Transfiguration of Jesus In the New Testament, the Transfiguration of Jesus is an event where Jesus is transfigured and becomes radiant in glory upon a mountain. The Synoptic Gospels (, , ) describe it, and the Second Epistle of Peter also refers to it (). In these a ...

. The church also has several other frescoes done by the same artist, depicting the Four Evangelists, the

Baptism Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost inv ...

, the

Last Supper Image:The Last Supper - Leonardo Da Vinci - High Resolution 32x16.jpg, 400px, alt=''The Last Supper'' by Leonardo da Vinci - Clickable Image, Depictions of the Last Supper in Christian art have been undertaken by artistic masters for centuries, ...

, the

Gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...

and the

Decalogue The Ten Commandments (Biblical Hebrew עשרת הדברים \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדְּבָרִים, ''aséret ha-dvarím'', lit. The Decalogue, The Ten Words, cf. Mishnaic Hebrew עשרת הדיברות \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדִּבְ� ...

. The church

organ Organ may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a part of an organism Musical instruments * Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone ** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument ** Hammond ...

was built to the wishes of composer

Otto Olsson Otto Emanuel Olsson (19 December 1879 – 1 September 1964) was a Swedish organist and classical music composer. Life and career Olsson, a native of Stockholm, was one of the most renowned organ virtuosos of his time. He studied organ with Augus ...

, who was also the church organist 1907–1956. The organ has 76 voices spread over three manuals and pedals. The crypt beneath the church was originally used as a burial chapel, and was expanded in 1924 with what is most likely Sweden's first

columbarium A columbarium (; pl. columbaria) is a structure for the reverential and usually public storage of funerary urns, holding cremated remains of the deceased. The term can also mean the nesting boxes of pigeons. The term comes from the Latin "'' colu ...

References

External links

*
Panorama of the interior
{{Authority control 20th-century Church of Sweden church buildings Churches in the Diocese of Stockholm (Church of Sweden) Baroque Revival architecture Churches in Stockholm Churches completed in 1906 Church buildings with domes 1906 establishments in Sweden Gustav I of Sweden

Interior

See also

References

External links