Gammelgarn Church ( sv, Gammelgarns kyrka) is a medieval church in

Gammelgarn Gammelgarn 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 Gammelgarn District, established on 1January 2016. Geography Gammelgarn is situated i ...

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 ...

. The largely Gothic church stands next to an older defensive tower. The church's main portal is richly decorated with medieval sculpture, and the interior contains an altarpiece from the 14th century of high craftsmanship. The church is in the Diocese of Visby of 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 ...

History

The church is built next to a defensive tower, erected in the 12th century and probably built to protect the congregation from raiders from across the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...

. The present-day church is largely from the 14th century. Only the tower remains of an older church on the same site. The tower was originally part of 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 ...

of this first, Romanesque church. The current tower roof dates from 1755.

Architecture

The church is a

High Gothic High Gothic is a particularly refined and imposing style of Gothic architecture that appeared in northern France from about 1195 until 1250. Notable examples include Chartres Cathedral, Reims Cathedral, Amiens Cathedral, Beauvais Cathedral, and ...

building, characterised by a spacious nave, divided into four vaults by a single central column. 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 ...

lacks an

apse In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an ''exedra''. In ...

and instead the eastern end of the church is adorned with three Gothic windows. Possibly the most noteworthy part of the church is the southern portal, which is richly sculpted. Dating from the 14th century, it was made by the Gotlandic workshop or sculptor commonly referred to by the notname Egypticus. The portal displays scenes from the

Old Testament The Old Testament (often abbreviated OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites. The ...

. The interior of the church contains fragments of medieval murals. The

altarpiece An altarpiece is an artwork such as a painting, sculpture or relief representing a religious subject made for placing at the back of or behind the altar of a Christian church. Though most commonly used for a single work of art such as a painting o ...

is an piece dating from the 14th century of fine craftsmanship, and the church also has a medieval

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). ...

. There is also a medieval gravestone slab in the floor of the choir, which is inscribed with

runes Runes are the letter (alphabet), letters in a set of related alphabets known as runic alphabets native to the Germanic peoples. Runes were used to write various Germanic languages (with some exceptions) before they adopted the Latin alphabet, a ...

. Other furnishings date from the late 17th century (the

pulpit A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, access ...

) and the 18th century (choir stalls and

pew A pew () is a long bench (furniture), bench seat or enclosed box, used for seating Member (local church), members of a Church (congregation), congregation or choir in a Church (building), church, synagogue or sometimes a courtroom. Overview ...

s).

References

External links

*
Official site (in Swedish)
{{Churches on Gotland Churches in Gotland County Churches in the Diocese of Visby Gothic architecture in Sweden Church frescos in Sweden 14th-century churches in Sweden Fortified church buildings Churches converted from the Roman Catholic Church to the Church of Sweden

History

Architecture

References

Further reading

External links