Stenkyrka Church ( sv, Stenkyrka kyrka) is a medieval church in

Stenkyrka Stenkyrka 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 Stenkyrka District, established on 1January 2016. Geography Stenkyrka in the northwest ...

on the

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

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 ...

. Although the current church dates from the 13th century, it was probably preceded by one of the earliest churches on Gotland at this site. Stenkyrka Church is dominated by its large tower and its interior is decorated with 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 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

According to the

Gutasaga Gutasaga (''Gutasagan'') is a saga regarding the history of Gotland before its Christianization. It was recorded in the 13th century and survives in only a single manuscript, the Codex Holm. B 64, dating to , kept at the National Library of Sweden ...

, a man called Lickajr the Wise built one of the first churches on Gotland in Stenkyrka. If true, this first church was almost certainly

wooden Wood is a porous and fibrous structural tissue found in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulose fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin tha ...

. The name Stenkyrka (literally in

: ''stone church'') implies that also the stone church is very early, from a time when buildings made of stone (rather than wood) was still a phenomenon unusual enough to give name to a place. This first, Romanesque church is also gone, but traces have been found and archaeologists have been able to determine that it was a small church with tower,

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 ...

and

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 ...

. The Romanesque church was successively replaced by the presently visible church starting in the mid-13th century. The choir was rebuilt first, followed by the nave, which was inaugurated by the

bishop of Linköping Bishops of the Diocese of Linköping, Sweden. Before the reformation * Herbert (bishop), Herbert? * Rikard (bishop), Rikard? * 1139–1160s Gisle (bishop), Gisle * 1170–1171 Stenar (bishop), Stenar * 1187–1195/96 Kol (bishop), Kol * Johannes ( ...

in 1255. The tower was added during the 14th century, and modelled after three similar city churches (since destroyed) in

Visby Visby () is an urban area in Sweden and the seat of Gotland Municipality in Gotland County on the island of Gotland with 24,330 inhabitants . Visby is also the episcopal see for the Diocese of Visby. The Hanseatic city of Visby is arguably th ...

. The church underwent a restoration in 1954-55.

Architecture

The church is dominated by the large tower, described as one of the finest church towers on Gotland. The church has two simple Romanesque portals and a

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 ...

tower portal. Inside, the church is richly decorated with murals, dating from three different periods. The oldest ones are from the middle of the 13th century and mainly ornamental. Later but from the same century are a number of paintings depicting imaginary animals, drapery and marble imitation. The most recent murals, from the end of the 14th century, depict figures and scenes from the bible. The furnishings are mostly from 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 finely carved crucifix dates from the late 14th century, and 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 from the 12th century. The church is also the location of the oldest dated gravestone on Gotland, from the year 1200.

References

External links

*
Official site (in Swedish)
{{Churches on Gotland Medieval Sweden Romanesque architecture in Sweden 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 of Christianity in Denmark History of Christianity in Sweden

History

Architecture

References

Further reading

External links