, native_name_lang = Kanta-Loimaan kirkko , image = Kanta-Loimaan kirkko2.jpg , caption = The church in 2016 , location = Loimaa , country =

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 ...

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Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...

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Carlo Bassi Carlo Bassi (1807, in Amsterdam – 1856, in Milan) was an Italian entomologist. He was honorary curator of entomology in the Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Milan from 1841 to his death in 1856. He was a specialist in Coleoptera. Bassi wrot ...

Carl Ludvig Engel

Josef Stenbäck Josef Daniel Stenbäck (May 2, 1854, Alavus — April 27, 1929, Helsinki) was a Finnish church architect and engineer. He designed 35 churches for Finland, which until 1917 was part of the Russian Empire. Four of the churches were located in the ...

, architectural type = neoclassical , groundbreaking = 1824 , completed date = , capacity = 1200 , parish = Loimaa , diocese = Archdiocese of Turku The Church of Loimaa Proper ( Finnish: ''Kanta-Loimaan kirkko'') is a church located in the municipality of Loimaa,

. It serves as the main church for the parish of Loimaa and is a visible landmark in the middle of countryside. Today the church is regarded as a protected site by the

Finnish Heritage Agency The Finnish Heritage Agency ( fi, Museovirasto, sv, Museiverket), previously known in English as the National Board of Antiquities, preserves Finland's material cultural heritage: collects, studies and distributes knowledge of it. The agency is a ...

History

A parish was founded in Loimaa somewhere around 1420's. The church was built to its current location in 1837 and is designed by the Italian-born

. The location was moved due to lack of space. Previously on the spot of the church there was a secret site for the pre-Christian pagans whose so called sacrificial stone is still visible at the church's front yard. In 1888 the church was destroyed in a fire started by a lightning. Most of the movables, including the altarpiece, was saved. The church was rebuilt in 1892 and the architect

followed Bassi's blueprints to the best of his abilities. According to legend, a local fortune teller,

Prättäkitti Prättäkitti (also Rättäkitti) was a Finnish fortune teller or a witch from the household of Manninen, Loimaa (present day Ypäjä). Prättäkitti's magical powers are said to come from the fact that when she was born, the person acting as the m ...

, foresaw the fire some 200 years before it happened.

Altarpiece and pulpit

The central painting of the altarpiece stands freely on its own and is painted by R. W. Ekman in 1850. The name of the painting is called ''Kristus ristillä'' ("Christ on the Cross"). The sacristy is located behind the altarpiece and is accessible from the both sides of the alar. Kanta-Loimaa church interior 07

The pulpit of the church is rarely used these days. Kanta-Loimaa church interior 05

References

{{coord, 60.8757, 22.9752, type:landmark_region:FI, display=title Neoclassical church buildings in Finland Lutheran churches in Finland Loimaa 19th-century churches in Finland 19th-century Lutheran churches