![Nylars Church (Bornholm)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cf/Nylars_Church_%28Bornholm%29.jpg)
Nylars Church ( da, Nylars Kirke) is a 12th-century
round church
A round church is a church construction with a completely circular plan. There are many Nordic round churches in Sweden and Denmark (notably the island of Bornholm); round churches were popular in Scandinavia in the 11th and early 12th centurie ...
in the village of
Nylars
Nylars is a village in the southwest of the Danish island of Bornholm, 8 km east of Rønne and 8 km west of Aakirkeby. In January 2023 it had a population of 207. It is best known for Nylars Church, the island's second largest round c ...
near
Rønne
Rønne ( sv, Rönne) is the largest town on the Danish island of Bornholm in the Baltic Sea. It has a population of 13,807 (1 January 2022). It was a municipality in its own right from 1970 until 2002, when Bornholm was a county ( Danish: ''Born ...
in the south of the Danish island of
Bornholm. Originally designed for a defensive role, the solid structure contains a series of 13th-century frescos, the oldest of Bornholm's four round churches.
History
Built around 1165, the church was dedicated to St Nicholas. The old Danish name for Nicolas was Nilaus which has developed into the present name of Nylars. The three storeys are built of fieldstone and with window and door frames of limestone. The original defensive systems are largely intact. The decorated south door is well-preserved. The porch is from 1879.
"Nylars Kirke"
''Nordens Kirker''. Retrieved 19 July 2012. The church first belonged to the Archbishopric of Lund
The Diocese of Lund ( sv, Lunds stift) is a diocese within the Church of Sweden which corresponds to the provinces of Blekinge and Skåne. There are 217 parishes within the diocese, the most significant number in any of the dioceses of the Chur ...
, then came under the Danish crown at the time of the Reformation
The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...
. In the 19th century, it became fully independent.[Otto Norn, C. G. Schultz, Erik Skov, "Nylars Kirke: Bornholms Nørre Herred"]
Danmarks Kirker, Bornholm, Nationalmuseet, Gad, 1954, pp. 244–274. Retrieved 5 August 2012.
Exterior
The three-storey circular structure with a diameter of 11 metres was originally unlimed. The oval-shaped chancel and its apse were constructed at the same time as the nave. Unlike the round churches of Østerlars and Ols whose masonry is supported by buttresses, Nylars is solidly constructed with walls up to 2 metres thick. Originally the church had two doors, one for men and one for women. The northern women's door was first replaced by a window in the 19th century, then completely bricked up in 1973. Measuring only 52 by 27 cm, the small window in the northwest corner behind the stairs up to the gallery is the only completely original Romanesque window in Bornholm's round churches.["Kirkebygningens historie"]
''Nylars Kirke''. Retrieved 5 August 2012.
The lower section of the separately-standing bell tower was probably once used as an entrance gate. Remains of the west door can still be seen in the west wall. A niche on the upper floor probably contained a door leading to a staircase as at Østerlars. The belfry is a later half-timbered addition. There are two bells: the smaller one is from 1702 and bears the stamp of King Frederik IV while the larger bell was cast on Barnholm in 1882.[
]
Interior
Like the other three round churches on Bornholm, the nave is covered by a ring vault supported by the heavy central pillar built of limestone from Limensgade near Aakirkeby
Aakirkeby or Åkirkeby is a town in Denmark with a population of 2,119 (1 January 2022). It is the third largest town on the island of Bornholm in the Baltic Sea. It was the main town of the now abolished Aakirkeby Municipality.
The town is sit ...
. The apse, lined with limestone flags, has a high half-domed vault in which five holes in the shape of a cross can be seen. They dissimulate clay pots some 20 cm deep which were apparently designed to improve the acoustics. The gallery and pulpit, originally from 1882, were decorated by Poul Høm in 1973 in tones reflecting those of the church's frescos. In 1972, Høm also completed the little stained-glass window depicting a timeglass located behind the pulpit. In 1882, when the whitewash was removed from the interior, a 13th-century fresco frieze was revealed around the top of the central pillar. On a blue background, typical of the period, it depicts scenes from the Creation
Creation may refer to:
Religion
*''Creatio ex nihilo'', the concept that matter was created by God out of nothing
* Creation myth, a religious story of the origin of the world and how people first came to inhabit it
* Creationism, the belief tha ...
and the Last Judgment.[
The chancel was not used for defence unlike that in Østerlars. The church font, from the late Romanesque period, is sculpted in Gotland limestone. The baptismal bowl from c. 1575 is from the south of Germany. Depicting a man's profile and the inscription ''Marcus Tullius Cicero'', it was probably first used for affluent banquets. The stained-glass window in the apse, the work of Poul Høm, represents the resurrection with a seed developing into a plant. The carpet before the altar, titled Water of Life, is the work of Anne-Lise Kofoed-Hansen (1990).][
File:Nylars(07)Syddør.JPG, South door
File:Nylars(14)Kor og apsis.JPG, Chancel and apse
File:Nylars(05)Romansk vindue.JPG, Romanesque window
File:Nylars(14a)Glasmosaik i østvinduet.JPG, Stained-glass apse window
File:Nylars(26)Døbefont.JPG, Font
File:Nylars(14c)Midtersøjle, Adams skabelse CROP.JPG, Central pillar
]
Frescos
In 1882, when the whitewash was removed from the interior, a frieze was revealed around the top of the central pillar with the oldest frescos on Bornholm dating from the 13th century. On a blue background with red and yellow ornamental fringes, typical of the period, it depicts scenes from the Creation
Creation may refer to:
Religion
*''Creatio ex nihilo'', the concept that matter was created by God out of nothing
* Creation myth, a religious story of the origin of the world and how people first came to inhabit it
* Creationism, the belief tha ...
and the Fall
Autumn, also known as fall in American English and Canadian English, is one of the four temperate seasons on Earth. Outside the tropics, autumn marks the transition from summer to winter, in September (Northern Hemisphere) or March ( Southe ...
of Adam and Eve
Adam and Eve, according to the creation myth of the Abrahamic religions, were the first man and woman. They are central to the belief that humanity is in essence a single family, with everyone descended from a single pair of original ancestors. ...
in the Garden of Eden. Originally there were seven images but only six could be preserved.[
File:Nylars(16)Midtersøjle, Adams skabelse.JPG, Adam's creation
File:Nylars(18)Midtersøjle, Evas skabelse.JPG, Eve's creation
File:Nylars(19)Midtersøjle, Formaningen.JPG, Tree of knowledge
File:Nylars(20)Midtersøjle, Syndefaldet.JPG, The fall
File:Nylars(22)Midtersøjle, Gud irettesætter Adam og Eva.JPG, God rebuking Adam and Eve
File:Nylars(23)Midtersøjle, Uddrivelsen.JPG, Banishment
]
See also
*
*Church frescos in Denmark
Church frescos or church wall paintings ( Danish: ''kalkmalerier'') are to be found in some 600 churches across Denmark, no doubt representing the highest concentration of surviving church murals anywhere in the world. Most of them date back to ...
References
{{Bornholm Denmark
Round churches
Religious buildings and structures completed in 1165
12th-century churches in Denmark
Churches in Bornholm
Romanesque architecture in Denmark
Fortified church buildings
Lutheran churches converted from Roman Catholicism