Gunfiauns Chapel
The ruins of Gunfiauns Chapel are about three kilometers south of Ardre Church on the Swedish island of Gotland in the Baltic Sea . It never seems to have served as a parish church and is therefore not counted among the "Ödekyrkor". It is even uncertain whether the structure was even completed. The ruin is used for open-air worship services in summer.
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description
The ruins of the chapel consist of a rectangular building, which included an almost square choir in its eastern part . The east wall of the choir with the three-part window is best preserved.
The north and south walls are significantly lower than they were originally. In places, especially at the portal openings and windows, they have completely collapsed. Judging by the design of the eastern window and some portal details, the chapel was probably built in the middle of the 14th century.
In 1948, extensive repair and conservation work was carried out on the chapel. It was overgrown with trees and bushes that threatened to destroy the masonry. The walls were repaired and leveled where necessary. The top of the wall was covered with turf. The lower part of the triumphal arch wall and the two side altars have been reconstructed. At the place of the main altar in the choir, the medieval altar plate was placed on two stone plinths .
Legend
Legend has it that the chapel was built in memory of the son of the Gotland chief Hafder Gunfiaun, who came from Ardre. According to Gutasaga, a Gunfiaun was the ruler of the southern third of the island, in which the chapel is not located. Gunfiaun was a holy man who was to be honored by a chapel near his grave.
It is just as likely that the building was built to hold the service near the medieval market, which is believed to be just east of the ruins on Kopungsklint.
literature
- Erland Lagerlöf, Gunnar Svahnström: The churches of Gotland. Stein, Kiel 1991, ISBN 3-89392-049-8 .
Web links
Coordinates: 57 ° 21 ′ 57.5 ″ N , 18 ° 41 ′ 18.3 ″ E