Lackalänga Church () is a church in

Furulund Furulund is a locality situated in Kävlinge Municipality, Skåne County, Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to th ...

Kävlinge Municipality Kävlinge Municipality () is a municipality in Scania County in southern Sweden. Its seat is located in the town of Kävlinge. Localities There are nine urban areas (also called a Tätort or locality) in Kävlinge Municipality. In the table they ...

Skåne County Skåne County ( ), sometimes referred to as Scania County or just Scania in English, is the southernmost Counties of Sweden, county, or , of Sweden, mostly corresponding to the traditional Provinces of Sweden, province of Scania. It borders th ...

, Sweden. It contains some of the most well-preserved early medieval

church murals in Sweden Church murals or church wall paintings are mostly medieval paintings found in several Swedish churches. They usually adorn the vaults or walls of the buildings. In Swedish they are sometimes referred to as ''kalkmålningar'', literally "lime ...

History

A stone church consisting of

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 ...

choir A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

and

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 ' ...

was built here during the second half of the 12th century. The builder was probably . In the 15th century, the church ceiling was replaced with vaults, and two

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 ...

es (later demolished) were built. In 1844

Carl Georg Brunius Carl Georg Brunius (23 March 1793 – 12 November 1869) was a classical scholar, art historian, archaeologist and architect. He served as a professor and rector at Lund University. During 1833–1859, he led the restoration work of Lund Cat ...

presented designs for rebuilding the church, and in 1850–51 the church was enlarged. The old windows were replaced with the current ones, and a tower was constructed. A new tower was however built as soon as 1888, since it was feared that the smaller tower designed by Brunius would not be sturdy enough to bear the weight of the

church bells A church bell is a bell in a church building designed to be heard outside the building. It can be a single bell, or part of a set of bells. Their main function is to call worshippers to the church for a service of worship, but are also rung o ...

Architecture and furnishings

The medieval church, the apse and choir, and parts of the 15th century vaulting, still exist. The

chancel arch In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. Ove ...

is unusually broad and tall. There are remains of a wall which once separated the choir from the nave, a feature mostly found in medieval

cathedral A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...

s but rarely in countryside churches like Lackalänga. The apse contains some of southern Sweden's most well-preserved early medieval wall paintings. They date from the early 13th century and depict

Christ in Majesty Christ in Majesty or Christ in Glory () is the Western Christian image of Christ seated on a throne as ruler of the world, always seen frontally in the centre of the composition, and often flanked by other sacred figures, whose membership change ...

surrounded by a

mandorla A mandorla is an almond-shaped aureola, i.e. a frame that surrounds the totality of an iconographic figure. It is usually synonymous with '' vesica'', a lens shape. Mandorlas often surround the figures of Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary in tra ...

, flanked by symbols of 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 ...

. Other figures, including

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 ...

also decorate the apse. The murals were discovered by in 1872 under layers of

whitewash Whitewash, calcimine, kalsomine, calsomine, asbestis or lime paint is a type of paint made from slaked lime ( calcium hydroxide, Ca(OH)2) or chalk (calcium carbonate, CaCO3), sometimes known as "whiting". Various other additives are sometimes ...

and restored in 1949. The church also contains traces of murals from the 16th century in the choir vault. 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 ...

of the church is probably as old as the church itself. The church is also in possession of two medieval candle holders made

brass Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc, in proportions which can be varied to achieve different colours and mechanical, electrical, acoustic and chemical properties, but copper typically has the larger proportion, generally copper and zinc. I ...

. 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, ...

and

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 ...

are both from the late 16th century, although the altarpiece was re-painted in the 18th century. The church bells date from 1747 and 1788, respectively. The

church organ Carol Williams performing at the West_Point_Cadet_Chapel.html" ;"title="United States Military Academy West Point Cadet Chapel">United States Military Academy West Point Cadet Chapel. In music, the organ is a keyboard instrument of one or mo ...

is from 1889 and was renovated in 1952.

References

External links

*
Official site (in Swedish)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lackalanga Church Churches in Skåne County Churches in the Diocese of Lund Church frescos in Sweden Kävlinge Municipality