Kågeröd Church () is a medieval church in

Kågeröd Kågeröd is a locality situated in Svalöv Municipality, Skåne County, Sweden with 1,446 inhabitants in 2010. The permanent motor circuit Ring Knutstorp Ring Knutstorp is a Motorsport, motor racing Race track, circuit in Kågeröd, Sweden. ...

(

Svalöv Municipality Svalöv Municipality () is a municipality in Skåne County in southern Sweden. Its seat is located in the town Svalöv. The local government reform of 1952 grouped the 15 original entities into six larger municipalities. In two steps, 1969 and 1 ...

) in the province of

Scania Scania ( ), also known by its native name of Skåne (), is the southernmost of the historical provinces of Sweden, provinces () of Sweden. Located in the south tip of the geographical region of Götaland, the province is roughly conterminous w ...

, Sweden. It dates from the end of the 12th or early 13th century, and has been successively enlarged and rebuilt, not least by the local aristocratic families

Brahe The Brahe family (originally ''Bragde'') refers to two closely related noble families of Scanian origin that played significant roles in both Danish and Swedish history. The Danish branch became extinct in 1786, and the Swedish branch in 193 ...

and

Wachtmeister (Wm; German for 'master-sentinel' or 'watch-master') is a military rank of non-commissioned officers (NCO) in Austria and Switzerland. It is also used in civil authorities in German-speaking countries (police, judiciary, customs service, bord ...

. The church contains several historic furnishings, and is richly decorated with 15th-century murals.

History and architecture

The church was constructed at the end of the 12th or early 13th century. It originally consisted only of a

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 ...

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the Choir (architecture), choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may termi ...

and an

apse In architecture, an apse (: apses; from Latin , 'arch, vault'; from Ancient Greek , , 'arch'; sometimes written apsis; : apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical Vault (architecture), vault or semi-dome, also known as an ' ...

. The southern

church porch A church porch is a room-like structure at a church's main entrance. A porch protects from the weather to some extent. Some porches have an outer door, others a simple gate, and in some cases the outer opening is not closed in any way. The porch ...

was probably added during the 14th century, the tower a century later. During the 15th century the interior of the church was also remade, with vaults built to support the ceiling. During the final years of the same century, the church was substantially enlarged towards the east. In the 1560s, a new chancel was constructed, as well as a burial chapel for the family

, who had holdings in the area; it today serves as the

sacristy A sacristy, also known as a vestry or preparation room, is a room in Christianity, 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 us ...

. The church was expanded by an addition to the north in 1780, and in 1797 the top of the tower was given its current appearance, with

crow-stepped gable A stepped gable, crow-stepped gable, or corbie step is a stairstep type of design at the top of the triangular gable-end of a building. The top of the parapet wall projects above the roofline and the top of the brick or stone wall is stacked in ...

s. These additions were financed by the

Wachtmeister family The Wachtmeister family () is a Swedish noble family from Livonia, who immigrated to Sweden in the 16th century. The name ''Wachtmeister'' is German for 'sergeant'. The family branched out in 1683, and was "introduced" at the Swedish House of No ...

, owners of nearby

Knutstorp Castle Knutstorp Castle () is a manor house situated in the Svalöv Municipality of Scania, Sweden. History A manor already in the middle of the 14th century, it was owned by the Danish Brahe noble family from the end of the Middle Ages until 1663, a ...

Murals and furnishings

The church is richly decorated with medieval murals. They date from the late 15th century and were made to decorate the new vaulted ceiling. They depict scenes from the Old and the

New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...

. Among the furnishings, the

baptismal font A baptismal font is an Church architecture, ecclesiastical architectural element, which serves as a receptacle for baptismal water used for baptism, as a part of Christian initiation for both rites of Infant baptism, infant and Believer's bapti ...

is the oldest, dated to 1200 and made of

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

. The church also contains an unusual, medieval iron chandelier. The wooden

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, accesse ...

is richly decorated with scenes from the Old and New Testament, and sculptures depicting the

Four Evangelists In Christian tradition, the Four Evangelists are Matthew the Apostle, Matthew, Mark the Evangelist, Mark, Luke the Evangelist, Luke, and John the Evangelist, John, the authors attributed with the creation of the four canonical Gospel accounts ...

. It dates from 1696. The

altarpiece An altarpiece is a painting or sculpture, including relief, of religious subject matter 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 or sculpture, ...

is only slightly later, from 1703, and contains a depiction of

Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a female given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religion * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also called the Blesse ...

and

John the Evangelist John the Evangelist ( – ) is the name traditionally given to the author of the Gospel of John. Christians have traditionally identified him with John the Apostle, John of Patmos, and John the Presbyter, although there is no consensus on how ...

next to Christ on the cross.

Gallery

Kågerödskyrka21500001324958.jpg, View of the interior towards the east Kågerödskyrka21500001324960.jpg, View of the interior towards the west Kågerödskyrka21500001324959.jpg, Detail of one the vaults with murals

References

External links

* {{authority control Churches in Skåne County Churches in the Diocese of Lund Church frescos in Sweden Svalöv Municipality

History and architecture

Murals and furnishings

Gallery

See also

References

External links