Vallstena Church ( sv, Vallstena kyrka) is a medieval church on the 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 ...
, Sweden. It belongs to the
Diocese of Visby.
History and architecture
The western 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 ...
and the church tower are the oldest parts of the asymmetrical church; they date from the early 13th century. A new chancel arch was built at the middle of the same century, and around circa 1300 the new
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 ...
was built. Reconstruction of the nave also started around this time; the original plan seems to have been to replace the entire nave with a new, larger nave but for some reason the work came to a halt. Similar, half-rebuilt churches are relatively common on Gotland. 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 also built at this time. The interior of the church was decorated with
medieval murals in the 15th century. The western, older part of the church is
Romanesque in style; the eastern
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 ...
.
The church and its cemetery is surrounded by a low wall, with three
lychgates. The oldest of these dates from the 13th century and display some original sculptured details.
[
]
Fittings
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 fitting of the church, dating from the middle of the 13th century. 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 ...
dates from the 14th century and was acquired when the new choir was inaugurated. From the same century dates a crucifix, as well as a richly decorated chest for donations for the poor. From the 14th century are also to tombstones on either side of the altar, carrying inscriptions in both Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
and Old Gutnish
Old Gutnish or Old Gotlandic was a North Germanic language spoken on the Baltic island of Gotland. It shows sufficient differences from the Old West Norse and Old East Norse dialects that it is considered to be a separate branch. While vastly ...
; the latter in rune
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 ...
s. A few 14th century wooden statues depicting saints originally from Vallstena Church are today housed in Gotland Museum
The Gotland Museum ( sv, Gotlands museum) (previously known as ''Länsmuseet på Gotland'' or ''Gotlands Fornsal'') in Visby, Sweden, is the county museum of Gotland. It was founded by the Friends of Gotland's Antiquity society in 1875, at the in ...
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 ...
.[
]
References
Further reading
*
External links
*
{{Churches on Gotland
Churches in Gotland County
Churches in the Diocese of Visby
Churches converted from the Roman Catholic Church to the Church of Sweden