Boge Church ( sv, Boge kyrka) is a medieval church in Boge not far from

Slite Slite is a locality situated in Gotland Municipality, Gotland County, on the island of Gotland, Sweden with 1,500 inhabitants in 2014. Geography Slite is situated on the northern east coast of Gotland. The town is divided by the Sjuströmmar inl ...

on the Swedish 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 ...

. Its main construction period was during the 13th century, but the tower was rebuilt following its collapse in a storm during the 19th century. It contains sets of medieval murals. It belongs to the

Church of Sweden The Church of Sweden ( sv, Svenska kyrkan) is an Evangelical Lutheran national church in Sweden. A former state church, headquartered in Uppsala, with around 5.6 million members at year end 2021, it is the largest Christian denomination in Sw ...

and lies in the Diocese of Visby.

History and architecture

Boge Church is an early

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

church. The oldest parts are 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 ...

and the

sacristy A sacristy, also known as a vestry or preparation room, is a room in Christian churches for the keeping of vestments (such as the alb and chasuble) and other church furnishings, sacred vessels, and parish records. The sacristy is usually located ...

, dating from the mid-13th century. The

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

is somewhat later, and replaced an earlier, Romanesque nave; this explains why the nave is unusually short and wide, as it was squeezed in between an existing tower and the choir. The tower seen today however dates from 1867 to 1892, as the old tower collapsed during a storm in 1857. On this occasion, the nave was also severely damaged, but likewise later reconstructed. Externally, the church is supported by a single

buttress A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall. Buttresses are fairly common on more ancient buildings, as a means of providing support to act against the lateral (s ...

, erected after the storm in 1857 to stabilise the church. The main portal is somewhat later than the rest of the building, and dates from the mid-14th century. Its

capitals Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used f ...

are decoratively sculpted. Internally, the church is decorated with two sets of medieval murals dating from the construction period and the mid-15th century, respectively. The later ones are in the style of the so-called

Master of the Passion of Christ The Passion Master ( sv, Passionsmästaren) is the name used to refer to an anonymous fresco painter and his workshop, active on Gotland during the 15th century. Works in about fifty churches have been attributed to the artist. The style of the M ...

. Most of the furnishings date from the 18th century, with the exception of 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). ...

(13th century) and a large, medieval iron chandelier. Some medieval tombstones are also visible in the choir. The church belongs to the

and lies within the Diocese of Visby.

References

External links

* {{Churches on Gotland Gothic architecture in Sweden Churches in Gotland County Churches in the Diocese of Visby Church frescos in Sweden Churches converted from the Roman Catholic Church to the Church of Sweden

History and architecture

References

Further reading

External links