Vittskövle Church ( sv, Vittskövle kyrka, da, Vidskøvle kirke) is a church in
Kristianstad Municipality
Kristianstad Municipality (''Kristianstads kommun'') is a municipality in Scania County in southernmost Sweden. Its seat is located in the city Kristianstad.
The present municipality was created in three steps during the last nationwide local gov ...
, in
Skåne
Scania, also known by its native name of Skåne (, ), is the southernmost of the historical provinces (''landskap'') of Sweden. Located in the south tip of the geographical region of Götaland, the province is roughly conterminous with Skåne C ...
,
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
. It is part of the
Diocese 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 ...
.
History
The oldest parts of the church are built in Romanesque style during the late 12th century or early 13th century.
In the 15th century 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 ...
was built in the north. The chapel was dedicated to
Saint Anne
According to Christian apocryphal and Islamic tradition, Saint Anne was the mother of Mary and the maternal grandmother of Jesus. Mary's mother is not named in the canonical gospels. In writing, Anne's name and that of her husband Joachim come o ...
.
The vaults were built in the 15th century with
mural
A mural is any piece of 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'' is a Spani ...
s from the 1480s, showing stories from
Genesis
Genesis may refer to:
Bible
* Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of mankind
* Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Book of ...
. These were later painted over, but again restored in the 20th century.
In the
chancel
In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse.
Ove ...
, the legend of
Saint Nicholas
Saint Nicholas of Myra, ; la, Sanctus Nicolaus (traditionally 15 March 270 – 6 December 343), also known as Nicholas of Bari, was an early Christian bishop of Greeks, Greek descent from the maritime city of Myra in Asia Minor (; modern-da ...
has been depicted. In Saint Annes chapel there are the symbols of the evangelists, as well as the four female medieval saints:
Saint Barbara
Saint Barbara ( grc, Ἁγία Βαρβάρα; cop, Ϯⲁⲅⲓⲁ Ⲃⲁⲣⲃⲁⲣⲁ; ; ), known in the Eastern Orthodox Church as the Great Martyr Barbara, was an Early Christianity, early Christian Lebanese and Greek saint and martyr. Acc ...
,
Saint Ursula
Saint Ursula (Latin for 'little female bear', german: link=no, Heilige Ursula) is a legendary Romano-British Christian saint who died on 21 October 383. Her feast day in the pre-1970 General Roman Calendar is 21 October. There is little infor ...
,
Saint Gertrude and
Saint Catherine. The tower was built in the 16th century.
The pulpit is made in oak 1704–1705. It is decorated with various wood sculptures and gildings.
The
baptismal font
A baptismal font is an article of church furniture used for baptism.
Aspersion and affusion fonts
The fonts of many Christian denominations are for baptisms using a non-immersive method, such as aspersion (sprinkling) or affusion (pouring). ...
is from the Middle Ages and made of sandstone. In the 17th century a grave chapel was built to the south for the members of the
Barnekow family
The Barnekow family is a medieval German nobility, German noble family originating from Mecklenburg and Pommerania. Though the original Mecklenburg branch died out around 1600, Danish, Swedish, and German lines of the family still exist.
The fami ...
.
References
Church frescos in Sweden
Churches in Skåne County
Churches in the Diocese of Lund
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