St. Henry's Chapel ( fi, Pyhän Henrikin kappeli, sv, Biskop Henriks bönehus) is a

neogothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

style brick chapel in the town of Kokemäki,

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

. The chapel was built in 1857 to cover a

medieval 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, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...

wooden granary which was used by St. Henry, the first bishop of Finland. The chapel is located by the river Kokemäenjoki, one kilometre east of the town center of Kokemäki.

The granary

According to legends, St. Henry spent his last night at the granary, before he was allegedly murdered by peasant

Lalli Lalli is an apocryphal character from Finland, Finnish history. According to the legend, he killed Henry, Bishop of Uppsala, Bishop Henry on the ice of lake Köyliönjärvi in Finland on January 20, 1156. Legend The story begins with an expedi ...

on 20 January 1156. The small wooden building was later converted to a

chapel A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common ty ...

which was the final destination of

pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a journey, often into an unknown or foreign place, where a person goes in search of new or expanded meaning about their self, others, nature, or a higher good, through the experience. It can lead to a personal transformation, aft ...

route

Saint Henry's Way Saint Henry's Way ( fi, Pyhän Henrikin tie, sv, S:t Henriksleden) is a pilgrim path in the regions of Southwest Finland and Satakunta in Finland. History Saint Henry's Way was born as a result of the canonization of Bishop Henry who was alleg ...

Dendrochronological Dendrochronology (or tree-ring dating) is the scientific method of dating tree rings (also called growth rings) to the exact year they were formed. As well as dating them, this can give data for dendroclimatology, the study of climate and atmos ...

analysis were made of the logs in 1990 and 2003. The analysis showed the oldest ones were cut in 1472. Since all of the logs were not analyzed and most of the original may have been replaced due to

decomposition Decomposition or rot is the process by which dead organic substances are broken down into simpler organic or inorganic matter such as carbon dioxide, water, simple sugars and mineral salts. The process is a part of the nutrient cycle and is e ...

, it is still possible the building dates back to 12th century. Even if the granary was built in late 15th century, it is still the oldest remaining wooden building in Finland.

The brick chapel

Senate of Finland The Senate of Finland ( fi, Suomen senaatti, sv, Senaten för Finland) combined the functions of cabinet and supreme court in the Grand Duchy of Finland from 1816 to 1917 and in the independent Finland from 1917 to 1918. The body that would beco ...

decided in 1839 to conserve the granary as a national heritage. The

octagon In geometry, an octagon (from the Greek ὀκτάγωνον ''oktágōnon'', "eight angles") is an eight-sided polygon or 8-gon. A '' regular octagon'' has Schläfli symbol and can also be constructed as a quasiregular truncated square, t, whi ...

-shaped brick chapel was built in 1850s by the drawings of architect

Pehr Johan Gylich Pehr is a predominantly Swedish language masculine give name and may refer to: *Pehr Adlerfelt (1680–1743), Swedish Army colonel *Pehr von Afzelius (1760–1843), Swedish medical doctor and professor *Pehr Victor Edman (1916—1977), Swedish bio ...

and the wooden building was placed inside. The chapel was opened on 18 June 1857, at the 700th anniversary of Christianisation of Finland. The park was designed by architect Georg Theodor von Chiewitz. In 2002, the bust of St. Henry was revealed at the park. It is a work of Finnish sculptor

Emil Cedercreutz Emil Herman Robert Cedercreutz (16 May 1879 – 28 January 1949), was a Finnish Baron, sculptor and silhouette artist best known of his horse sculptures. He was a member of the family. Life Cedercreutz was born in the and studied in the Acade ...

(1879–1949). Foundations of the brick chapel are slightly damaged during the decades and it is now leaning about 25 centimetres towards the river. The chapel's surroundings are the assumed location of

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...

town

Teljä Teljä (also Telja or Tälje) was a late Iron Age and early Middle Ages settlement in Finland at the historical province of Satakunta. According to tradition it was located by the river Kokemäenjoki in the present municipality of Kokemäki. It i ...

and the site of Medieval village ''Ylistaro'', which was destroyed by fire in the 1830s.

Gallery

File:Pyhän Henrikin kappeli 5.JPG, The park File:Pyhän Henrikin kappeli 2.JPG, Entrance File:Pyhän Henrikin saarnahuone 1.JPG, Inside the granary File:Pyhän Henrikin saarnahuone 5.JPG, Old carvings

Sources

St. Henry's Chapel (in Finnish)Spotting History
{{coord, 61.257657, N, 22.370052, E, scale:80000_region:FI, display=title Buildings and structures in Satakunta 1857 establishments in the Russian Empire Brick Gothic Churches completed in 1857 Gothic Revival church buildings in Finland