Lojsta Church ( sv, Lojsta kyrka) is a medieval church in
Lojsta
Lojsta is a populated area, a socken (not to be confused with parish), on the Swedish island of Gotland. It comprises the same area as the administrative Lojsta District, established on 1January 2016.
The rift valley landscape of Lojsta is unusu ...
on the Swedish island of
Gotland. The well-preserved church contains several sets of medieval murals. It belongs to the
Diocese of Visby
The Diocese of Visby ( sv, Visby stift) is a division of the Church of Sweden consisting of the island of Gotland. Its seat is Visby Cathedral located in the largest town on Gotland, Visby.
The Bishop of Visby is also responsible for the episc ...
within 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
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
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 sp ...
form the oldest part of Lojsta Church. They date from the middle of the 13th century. During the first half of the 14th century, an earlier tower was replaced by the presently visible, clearly
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 ...
tower. In connection with this, some additional reconstruction works were carried out in the church.
The interior of the church is decorated by four distinct groups of
medieval murals. The oldest, dating from the time of the construction of the nave and choir, are purely ornamental. On the wall between the choir and the nave, above the vault (itself dating from the "modernisation" of the church carried out in the 14th century) are murals from the 14th century depicting
Christ
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...
as judge of the world, flanked by the apostles
Saint Peter
) (Simeon, Simon)
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Bethsaida, Gaulanitis, Syria, Roman Empire
, death_date = Between AD 64–68
, death_place = probably Vatican Hill, Rome, Italia, Roman Empire
, parents = John (or Jonah; Jona)
, occupat ...
and
Saint Paul
Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...
, as well as the archangel
Michael
Michael may refer to:
People
* Michael (given name), a given name
* Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael
Given name "Michael"
* Michael (archangel), ''first'' of God's archangels in the Jewish, Christian an ...
and
Saint Margaret. On the northern wall of the nave is an additional set of wall paintings, dating from the middle of the 15th century and depicting the
Passion of Christ
In Christianity, the Passion (from the Latin verb ''patior, passus sum''; "to suffer, bear, endure", from which also "patience, patient", etc.) is the short final period in the life of Jesus Christ.
Depending on one's views, the "Passion" m ...
and made by the so-called
Master of the Passion of Christ
The Passion Master ( sv, Passionsmästaren) is the name used to refer to an anonymous fresco painter and his workshop, active on Gotland during the 15th century. Works in about fifty churches have been attributed to the artist. The style of the M ...
. Finally, a fragmentary wall painting from 1520 depicting
Saint George and the Dragon has been painted on the southern wall of the nave. The church is however more unusual for its well-preserved medieval
stained glass windows. Only somewhat more than thirty churches still displays
medieval stained glass in Sweden
The surviving amount of medieval stained glass in Sweden is relatively small, compared to some other European countries. There are in total 165 medieval stained glass panes with figurative depictions surviving in 37 churches, constituting a tota ...
. In the three windows of the eastern choir wall of Lojsta Church however, all but a single pane are original, dating from the mid-13th century. They depict the story of the life, death and resurrection of Christ.
The church also contains some medieval furnishings. The
baptismal font is from the 12th century but very worn. The
altarpiece is from the 14th century, but was re-painted in the 19th century. In the choir floor lies a tombstone for a grave of a man (died 1342) and a woman (died 1344).
In the 1860s, the church windows were remade and replaced (save for the ones in the choir). The church was renovated in 1957.
References
Further reading
*
External links
*
{{Authority control
Churches in Gotland County
Churches in the Diocese of Visby
Churches converted from the Roman Catholic Church to the Church of Sweden
Church frescos in Sweden