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Block Pillar Church
The block-pillar church (; ) was a common type of wooden church in Ostrobothnia in the 17th century. Individual specimens are also found elsewhere in Finland and in northern Sweden. Construction The basic form of a block pillar church is a nave church, where the walls are made of horizontal logs and the joints between the logs are placed inside a timber pillar. The pillars are square timbered cavities as high as the walls with interlocking joints and are visible from both outside and inside the church. The pillars support a long timber wall so it doesn't start to buckle due to pressure from the roof. Inside the church, the walls are supported by tie beams between the parallel walls. Most commonly two pairs of block pillars were used, but the largest block-pillar church is Tornio Church, which has three pairs of pillars. In the west gable, the churches often have a timbered tower with a high spire. Most often the tower had no church bells, and a bell tower was built separately. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ostrobothnia (historical Province)
Ostrobothnia (; ) is a historical province comprising a large portion of western and northern Finland. Before the Treaty of Fredrikshamn in 1809, Ostrobothnia was part of Sweden. It is bounded by Karelia, Savonia (historical province), Savo, Tavastia (historical province), Tavastia (Häme) and Satakunta in the south, the Bothnian Sea, Bothnian Bay and Swedish Norrbotten in the west, Lapland in the north and Russia in the east. Etymology The word ''botten'' derives from Old Norse ''botn'', meaning 'bay'. It is Latinized as ''Bothnia''. The Finnish word ''pohja'' means either "north" or "bottom", and ''maa'' is "land". There are two possible explanations for the dual meaning of ''pohja''. The first is based on the ancient Scandinavian belief that the north was the bottom of the world, where the Sun disappeared each night. The second explanation points to the fact that houses were constructed with their backs to the north, the coldest direction, which may have given rise ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
