Munsö Church ( sv, Munsö kyrka) is a medieval Lutheran church in the Diocese of Stockholm. Its site, Munsö, is a village and formerly an island in Ekerö Municipality, Sweden. Because of post-glacial rebound, this island in Lake Mälaren is now connected to the island

Ekerö Ekerö is a locality (urban area) and the seat of Ekerö Municipality in Stockholm County, Sweden, with 11,524 inhabitants in 2017. It is also an alternative name of the island Ekerön, on which the Ekerö urban area is situated. Sports The ...

. Munsö Church lies not far from Väsby hage Nature Reserve. The round church at Munsö is one of a few so-called

round church A round church is a church construction with a completely circular plan. There are many Nordic round churches in Sweden and Denmark (notably the island of Bornholm); round churches were popular in Scandinavia in the 11th and early 12th centuries ...

es in Sweden.

History

Traces of permanent habitations dating from the

Bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...

or Iron Age have been found in the area, and several of the larger farmsteads in the area are traceable back to the Iron Age. Munsö Church was possibly built for one such farm, called Bona. The church dates from the 12th century. The exact date is unknown, but given the peculiarity that the church is fortified, its history has been connected with raids by

Estonian Estonian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Estonia, a country in the Baltic region in northern Europe * Estonians, people from Estonia, or of Estonian descent * Estonian language * Estonian cuisine * Estonian culture See also

...

pirates in the area in 1187. At the time, Bona farmstead was owned by the

Archbishop of Uppsala The Archbishop of Uppsala (spelled Upsala until the early 20th century) has been the primate (bishop), primate of Sweden in an unbroken succession since 1164, first during the Roman Catholic Church, Catholic era, and from the 1530s and onward un ...

, who may have commissioned the church. From the beginning, it was built to be able to serve both as a place of worship and as a defensive building. Above the church itself there was a large room which could house refugees in times of danger, and above this another floor designed for defence, with arrow slits in the wall. These floors have since disappeared. During the 14th century, 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 ...

was added, and the church porch in the 15th century. The main circular room of the church received its presently visible, star-shaped vault in the 1470s. A burial chapel for the owners of Bona farm was added in 1651–58. Further additions were made to the western end of the church in 1704–08. At the same time the church roof was changed into the

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 ...

cupola and spire visible today. During a renovation in 1856, the church windows were enlarged.

Architecture

The medieval parts of the church are built by

fieldstone Fieldstone is a naturally occurring type of stone, which lies at or near the surface of the Earth. Fieldstone is a nuisance for farmers seeking to expand their land under cultivation, but at some point it began to be used as a construction mate ...

and later additions are made by

brick A brick is a type of block used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a block composed of dried clay, but is now also used informally to denote other chemically cured cons ...

, today whitewashed. The church has a shake roof. Parts of both the entrance door and the door leading from the church porch into the church itself are medieval. The lower parts of the original, Romanesque entrance portal has been preserved in the wall between the church porch and the church. Internally, the round church room is covered by a star-shaped vault, except for the choir and the later, 18th-century western addition. The 17th-century burial chapel is likewise covered by a polygonal vault; from the chapel the medieval stair leads up into the church cupola. Among the church furnishings, 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 the oldest ( 1200). The church also houses four carved wooden sculptures, dating from the 1470s and probably made in the Netherlands. 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 ...

, dating from 1651–53, while many of the other furnishings are later. The

stained glass Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...

window behind the altar dates from 1905. Among the more unusual items in the church is a decorated chasuble from the 16th century.

References

External links

Munsö kyrka website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Munso Church 12th-century churches in Sweden Buildings and structures in Stockholm County Churches in the Diocese of Stockholm (Church of Sweden) Churches converted from the Roman Catholic Church to the Church of Sweden Fortified church buildings