Västergarn Church ( sv, Västergarns kyrka) is a medieval

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 ...

church in

Västergarn Västergarn is a populated area, a socken (not to be confused with parish), on the Swedish island of Gotland. It comprises the same area as the administrative Västergarn District, established on 1January 2016. Geography Västergarn is the nam ...

on the island 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 ...

, Sweden. It belongs to the Diocese of Visby.

History and architecture

North of the presently visible church are the foundations of an earlier, Romanesque church. The current church, built in the middle of the 13th century, is only the

choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which ...

of an envisioned, much larger church. It was never finished, perhaps due to a decline in local fortunes that set in with a civil war on Gotland in 1288. Most of the interior dates from the time after 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 ...

. A noteworthy item is the

votive ship A votive ship, sometimes called a church ship, is a ship model displayed in a church. As a rule, votive ships are constructed and given as gifts to the church by seamen and ship builders. Votive ships are relatively common in churches in the Nordi ...

, dating from 1637.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vastergarn Church Churches in Gotland County Churches in the Diocese of Visby Churches converted from the Roman Catholic Church to the Church of Sweden