Saint Birgitta's chapel ( sv, Sankt Britas kapell) is located on the east coast of the island of

Öland Öland (, ; ; sometimes written ''Øland'' in other Scandinavian languages, and often ''Oland'' internationally; la, Oelandia) is the second-largest Swedish island and the smallest of the traditional provinces of Sweden. Öland has an area ...

, Sweden, some four kilometers from the village of Bredsättra in Bredsättra socken,

Borgholm Municipality Borgholm Municipality (''Borgholms kommun'') is a municipality in Kalmar County, south-eastern Sweden, constituting the northern half of the island of Öland in the Baltic Sea. The municipal seat is located in the city of Borgholm. Notable histor ...

, in a marshy area called Kapelludden. The chapel dates from the 13th century; today nothing remains but the foundation and the eastern wall, the western wall having fallen down during a storm in 1914.

History and description

The church (not a parish church) was built in the first part of the 13th century under the auspices of the bishop of the

Diocese of Linköping The Diocese of Linköping ( sv, Linköpings stift) is a diocese within the Church of Sweden administering the Östergötland County, the north eastern part of Jönköping County and the northern part of Kalmar County. It comprises nine deanerie ...

, which included the islands of

Gotland Gotland (, ; ''Gutland'' in Gutnish), also historically spelled Gottland or Gothland (), is Sweden's largest island. It is also a province, county, municipality, and diocese. The province includes the islands of Fårö and Gotska Sandön to the ...

and Öland. The chapel belonged to one of the largest churches of its time on the island. It had a large nave (only the churches at Köpingsvik and Hulterstad had larger naves) and a slightly smaller choir, and a small vestry on the north end. The high roof probably created space for lodging pilgrims (that this was a

pilgrimage church A pilgrimage church (german: Wallfahrtskirche) is a church to which pilgrimages are regularly made, or a church along a pilgrimage route, like the Way of St. James, that is visited by pilgrims. Pilgrimage churches are often located by the graves ...

is suggested also by the dimensions of the nave), and the church was surrounded by a wall, enclosing an area of 67 × 55 meters, including a cemetery. In the southeast corner is a spring, which was probably used already in prehistoric times. The building is first mentioned in 1515 and was probably abandoned during 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 ...

. The saint for whom the chapel is named is most likely Brigit of Kildare (451–525), an Irish saint who was particularly venerated in the Linköping diocese, rather than Bridget of Sweden (1303–1373). English traveler

Horace Marryat Horace Marryat (1818–1887) was an English traveller, and author. Horace Marryat was a son of the businessman Joseph Marryat (1757–1824), Joseph Marryat (1757–1824). His father maintained extended holdings in the West Indies, and made a fort ...

visited the area and the church in the early 1860s ("a ruined chapel of grey stone – two peaked gables – a graceful ruin"), who recounts the legend of Ingeborg Bengtsdotter, landing in this spot with her child, the future Bridget of Sweden, after a shipwreck: Ingeborg and her husband Birger Persson had gone on a pilgrimage to Kildare, to the remains of St. Brigit, and their ship sank off the Öland coast on the return voyage to Sweden.

Cross

A stone cross was placed in the 13th century between the chapel and the beach, 3 meters high and 1.9 meters wide, with clover-shaped cross ends. There is a hole in the cross, supposedly intended for a hook on which to hang the ''offerbössa''. The cross is surrounded by a wall 12 meters in diameter. Excavations in 1978 revealed it was made of limestone, with entrances north and south. A storm in 2007 blew over a neighboring shed, which in turn broke the cross in four pieces; it was restored, reinforced with steel beams, in October 2007. According to Horace Marryat, local lore has it that the cross marks the spot where Bridget of Sweden first set foot on the island.

Literature

*Andreas Hassler, ''Schweden Handbuch'', Edgar Hoff Verlag 2001, , p. 266

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Birgittas Chapel Öland Church of Sweden churches Church ruins in Sweden