Nederluleå Church ( sv, Nederluleå kyrka) is a medieval

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 ...

parish church in

Gammelstaden Gammelstaden or ''Gammelstad'' (''Luleå Old Town'') is a locality situated in Luleå Municipality, Norrbotten County, Sweden with 4,960 inhabitants in 2010. It is known for the Gammelstad Church Town, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. History A t ...

near

Luleå Luleå ( , , locally ; smj, Luleju; fi, Luulaja) is a city on the coast of northern Sweden, and the capital of Norrbotten County, the northernmost county in Sweden. Luleå has 48,728 inhabitants in its urban core (2018) and is the seat of Lu ...

Norrbotten County Norrbotten County ( sv, Norrbottens län; se, Norrbottena leatna, fi, Norrbottenin lääni) is the northernmost county or '' län'' of Sweden. It is also the largest county by land area, almost a quarter of Sweden's total area. It shares border ...

, Sweden. It belongs to the

Diocese of Luleå The diocese of Luleå ( sv, Luleå stift) is a Swedish diocese of the Church of Sweden. List of Bishops *Olof Bergqvist : 1904~1937 *Bengt Jonzon : 1937~1956 *Ivar Hylander : 1956~1966 * Stig Hellsten : 1966~1980 *Olaus Brännström : 1980~198 ...

. The church is the largest medieval church in the Swedish land of

Norrland Norrland (, "Northland", originally ''Norrlanden'' or "the Northlands") is the northernmost, largest and least populated of the three traditional lands of Sweden, consisting of nine provinces. Although Norrland does not serve any administr ...

. It forms a part of the

UNESCO World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

Gammelstad Church Town Gammelstad Church Town ( sv, Gammelstads kyrkstad) is a UNESCO World Heritage Site situated in Gammelstaden near the city of Luleå, Sweden, at the northern end of the Gulf of Bothnia. It is the best preserved example of a type of town that was on ...

History

The presently visible stone church was probably preceded by a wooden chapel. Construction of the stone church started in the 15th century and continued into the early 16th century. The church was however inaugurated already in 1492, by Jakob Ulvsson,

Archbishop of Uppsala The Archbishop of Uppsala (spelled Upsala until the early 20th century) has been the primate (bishop), primate of Sweden in an unbroken succession since 1164, first during the Roman Catholic Church, Catholic era, and from the 1530s and onward un ...

Arrowslit An arrowslit (often also referred to as an arrow loop, loophole or loop hole, and sometimes a balistraria) is a narrow vertical aperture in a fortification through which an archer can launch arrows or a crossbowman can launch bolts. The interio ...

s preserved in the church indicate that apart from its religious use, it also served a defensive purpose. The church remained largely unchanged until the 18th century. In 1745 the medieval

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 ...

s were painted over, and during the same decade the windows were enlarged. In 1776-78 the church was painted red, externally, a new entrance was made and more windows added. In 1848 the windows were altered, again. Successive changes to the interior, with old furnishings removed and new added, have also been carried out since the 18th century. During a renovation in 1909 the medieval frescos were uncovered again and 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 ...

portal regained its original appearance, which had been altered during the 18th century. Additional renovations have been carried out in 1936, 1954 and 1969–71. The free-standing bell tower dates from 1851 and replaced an earlier, wooden bell tower. The two bells date from 1554 and 1684, but have both been re-cast in later times. Scenes from television series '' En hederlig jul med Knyckertz'' were filmed in the church.

Architecture

The church is built of

fieldstone Fieldstone is a naturally occurring type of stone, which lies at or near the surface of the Earth. Fieldstone is a nuisance for farmers seeking to expand their land under cultivation, but at some point it began to be used as a construction mate ...

(consisting of about 40 types of

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

), with details made of brick. The roof is made of shake, as was the original roof. The church is surrounded by a wall in which two

lychgate A lychgate, also spelled lichgate, lycugate, lyke-gate or as two separate words lych gate, (from Old English ''lic'', corpse), also ''wych gate'', is a gateway covered with a roof found at the entrance to a traditional English or English-style ch ...

s are preserved. Inside, the church is a

vaulted In architecture, a vault (French ''voûte'', from Italian ''volta'') is a self-supporting arched form, usually of stone or brick, serving to cover a space with a ceiling or roof. As in building an arch, a temporary support is needed while ring ...

single-

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 ...

church with a choir of the same height as the nave. A

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 ...

protrudes from the northern façade, and a

church porch A church porch is a room-like structure at a church's main entrance. A porch protects from the weather to some extent. Some porches have an outer door, others a simple gate, and in some cases the outer opening is not closed in any way. The porch ...

from the southern. The vaults are decorated with frescos, probably made by a pupil of

Albertus Pictor Albertus Pictor (English, "Albert the Painter"; Immenhusen, c. 1440 – c. 1507), also called Albert Pictor, Albert Målare and Albrekt Pärlstickare (Swedish), is the most famous late medieval Swedish painter, known for his wallpaintings survivi ...

. Among the church furnishings, the

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 ...

is the most noteworthy. It dates from circa 1520 and was made in

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

. Its central part contains intricately carved figures 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 ...

. The altarpiece is one of the finest of its kind in Sweden. The congregation is supposed to have paid the sum of 900 silver marks, in cash, for the altarpiece – a great sum for the mostly peasant congregation. Among other furnishings, the

triumphal cross A rood or rood cross, sometimes known as a triumphal cross, is a cross or crucifix, especially the large crucifix set above the entrance to the chancel of a medieval church. Alternatively, it is a large sculpture or painting of the crucifixion ...

and the marble

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). ...

date from the late

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

. The richly carved

pulpit A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, access ...

dates from 1712. Some of the

pew A pew () is a long bench (furniture), bench seat or enclosed box, used for seating Member (local church), members of a Church (congregation), congregation or choir in a Church (building), church, synagogue or sometimes a courtroom. Overview ...

s are medieval, while some were at least elaborated in 1749. The organ dates from 1971.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nederlulea Church Churches in Norrbotten County Churches in the Diocese of Luleå Church frescos in Sweden Gothic architecture in Sweden Churches converted from the Roman Catholic Church to the Church of Sweden

History

Architecture

See also

References

External links