Gothem Church ( sv, Gothems kyrka) is a medieval church in

Gothem Gothem () 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 Gothem District, established on 1January 2016. Geography Gothem is the name of the soc ...

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 ...

. Gothic in style, it has remained largely unaltered since the 14th century. It lies in the

Diocese of Visby The Diocese of Visby ( sv, Visby stift) is a division of the Church of Sweden consisting of the island of Gotland. Its seat is Visby Cathedral located in the largest town on Gotland, Visby. The Bishop of Visby is also responsible for the episcop ...

History

The presently visible,

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 is probably the successor of two earlier churches, the first a

stave church A stave church is a medieval wooden Christian church building once common in north-western Europe. The name derives from the building's structure of post and lintel construction, a type of timber framing where the load-bearing ore-pine posts a ...

or at least a wooden church, which was later replaced by a Romanesque stone church. Rebuilding of the church into its present form was carried out between the early 13th and mid-14th centuries. The church may originally have been built to serve a large farmstead. Since its completion during the 14th century, the church has remained largely unaltered.

Architecture

The church has a tall and slender western toward which contains a single bell, built by the Gothic builder workshop known by its

notname In art history, a ''Notname'' (, "necessity-name" or "contingency-name") is an invented name given to an artist whose identity has been lost. The practice arose from the need to give such artists and their typically untitled, or generically title ...

Egypticus, which was active on Gotland during the time period 1330-1380.Roosval, Johnny (1911) ''Die Kirchen Gotlands, ein Beitrag zur mittelalterlichen Kunstgeschichte Schwedens'' (Leipzig : E.A. Seeman) 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 divided into two by a single column, and 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 ...

ends in 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 ...

. During a restoration in the 1950s, medieval murals were uncovered. They now again completely dominate the interior of the church. They are partly designed as imitations of drapery and tapestries, and partly depict biblical scenes and other figures (including knights and footmen fighting). They date from c. 1300 and were probably executed by an anonymous German artist. The church also incorporates a choir bench from the first half of the 14th century and a church bell from 1374; otherwise, most of the furniture is later,

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

in style. Close to the church are the relatively well-preserved ruins of a defensive tower dating from the 12th century, built as a place for protection for the congregation during times of war or danger.

References

External links

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

History

Architecture

References

Further reading

External links