St. Mary's Church, Ystad () is a medieval

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

church in

Ystad Ystad () is a town and the seat of Ystad Municipality, in Scania County, Sweden. Ystad had 18,350 inhabitants in 2010. The settlement dates from the 11th century and has become a busy ferryport, local administrative centre, and tourist attracti ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. It is the main church of the city.

History

The first church on the site was a Romanesque basilica-shaped church building, erected during the 13th century. It was expanded in

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, a Germanic people **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Gothic alphabet, an alphabet used to write the Gothic language ** Gothic ( ...

style circa 1275, and the remains of this extension are the oldest surviving parts of the church (a single

mural A mural is any piece of Graphic arts, graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' ...

-decorated

vault Vault may refer to: * Jumping, the act of propelling oneself upwards Architecture * Vault (architecture), an arched form above an enclosed space * Bank vault, a reinforced room or compartment where valuables are stored * Burial vault (enclosur ...

). During the 14th and 15th centuries the church was successively rebuilt, until it acquired the look it more or less still displays today. The church was damaged in a storm in 1648 and received a new

transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform ("cross-shaped") cruciform plan, churches, in particular within the Romanesque architecture, Romanesque a ...

shortly afterwards. A new

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

tower was also erected. Minor alterations were carried out in the interior of the church during the 18th century, and in the 1830s the church was partly reconstructed after designs by

Carl Georg Brunius Carl Georg Brunius (23 March 1793 – 12 November 1869) was a classical scholar, art historian, archaeologist and architect. He served as a professor and rector at Lund University. During 1833–1859, he led the restoration work of Lund Cat ...

(1792-1869). In 1886 another, rather insensitive, renovation scheme was carried out. A historically more accurate renovation was again done in 1923-24.

Architecture

The church is built in an accomplished

Brick Gothic Brick Gothic (, , ) is a specific style of Gothic architecture common in Baltic region, Northeast and Central Europe especially in the regions in and around the Baltic Sea, which do not have resources of standing rock (though Glacial erratic, ...

style. It contains some fine furnishings including a

high altar, a large side-altar from the 15th century made in northern

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, two medieval wooden sculptures of

Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a female given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religion * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also called the Blesse ...

and St. John, fragments of

s and an iron chandelier from the 14th century. There are also two large medieval crucifixes on one of which the sculpture of Jesus is adorned with real hair.

References

External links

Official site (in Swedish)
* {{Authority control Buildings and structures in Ystad Churches in Skåne County Churches in the Diocese of Lund Church frescos in Sweden 13th-century churches in Sweden Churches converted from the Roman Catholic Church to the Church of Sweden

History

Architecture

See also

References

External links