Sånga Church
Sånga Church (Swedish: Sånga kyrka) is a medieval Lutheran church on Färingsö island, close to Svartsjö Palace in the Diocese of Stockholm in Stockholm County, Sweden.
History and architecture[edit]
Although mentioned in written sources for the first time in 1308, the church evidently is much older, dating from the 1170s.[1] It was expanded during the 14th and 15th centuries and transformed from a Romanesque church into a Gothic.[1][2]
Both externally and internally, the church retains much of its medieval appearance. The tall spire is from 1730[2] but replaced an earlier spire of the same form.[1] The church's windows have been enlarged in phases,[2] but no other major alterations have been made to the exterior of the church. Inside, the church is decorated with a large and rich set of frescos, dating from circa 1470. The motifs are a mix of Christian, religious pictures and humorous grotesques. Among the more unusual of the frescos are depictions of the fifteen signs that forebode the Last Judgement.[1][2]
Among the church furnishings, the pulpit is an unusually richly carved Baroque piece, profusely decorated with intarsia.[2] The baptismal font, dating from the 12th century, is richly decorated, and the triumphal cross (circa 1300) also merits special mention. The altarpiece is a work by Jordan Painter. A carved wooden epitaph from 1584 is believed to contain the second oldest landscape painting in Swedish art, a few years younger than the Vädersolstavlan.[1]
References[edit]
External links[edit]
- Official site (in Swedish)
Media related to Sånga Church at Wikimedia Commons
