The Holy Cross Church ( fi, Pyhän Ristin kirkko) in
Hattula,
Finland, is the oldest church in the former
Tavastia (Häme) province.
Archaeologist and art history professor
Markus Hiekkanen has shown that construction of the current brick building spanned the period from 1472 to 1490 and that the building did not date to the 14th century, as previously thought.
Unique for having been built almost entirely of
brick
A brick is a type of block used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a block composed of dried clay, but is now also used informally to denote other chemically cured cons ...
rather than stone, the church was a popular
pilgrimage destination during the
Middle Ages. A grey stone perimeter wall was added in the 16th century.
The church contains paintings from the years 1510 through 1922, as well as 40 wooden sculptures dating to the first half of the 14th century.
Precious-metal crowns which had formerly belonged to the church were confiscated during the
Reformation. The church pulpit, dating to 1550, is the oldest surviving pulpit in Finland. A second pulpit was built in the 17th century. A bell tower next to the church dates to 1813.
The Hattula church is known for its lime paint
fresco
Fresco (plural ''frescos'' or ''frescoes'') is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaste ...
es done in
late Gothic style, likely completed by the same group of artists who later painted the
St. Lars church in Lohja ( fi, Pyhän Laurin kirkko).
File:Hattulan vanha kirkko.jpg, The old Hattula church
1926 photo by Kalle Artturi Havas
File:Hattula Pyhän Ristin kirkko 4.jpg, Interior
File:HATTULA CHURCH FRESCOES, HATTULA, FINLAND.jpg, Frescos
File:Ursula.jpg, St. Ursula
File:St Göran och draken Hattula.jpg, Mediaeval carving of St. George and dragon, from Hattula church
Kari Tarkiainen, ''Sveriges Österland'', p. 93.
File:Hattula-Church-1931.jpg, 1931 postage stamp depicting the church
References
Further reading
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External links
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Hattula Parish – Holy Cross Church
Church
Medieval stone churches in Finland
Gothic architecture in Finland
Buildings and structures in Kanta-Häme
Lutheran churches in Finland
Lutheran churches converted from Roman Catholicism
Churches completed in 1490
15th-century churches in Finland
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