Church of Ala

The Church of Ala ( Swedish Ala kyrka ) is a country church that belongs to the parish (Swedish Församling ) Östergarn. It is located at the junction of road 146 to Slite from road 143 from Visby to Ljugarn , 31 km southeast of Visby, 10 km north of Ljugarn and 34 km south of Slite on the Swedish island of Gotland .

The church was built in the 12th century.

Church building

The church was initially an apse church, which means that the choir ended with a semicircular apse . In the 1250s the steeple was rebuilt and, similar to other churches, the apse disappeared at the same time. The choir was extended. The interior of the church consists of a hall-like space in which the nave is separated from the choir of the same width only by the triumphal arch wall . The church was damaged by fire in 1938 but was rebuilt. Along with the restoration, two hidden frescoes from the 13th and 15th centuries were discovered. The font dates from the 13th century. Two portals from the oldest church are also preserved, decorated with sculptures, the meanings of which are unknown today.

Similar to other older Gotland churches, there is a passion frieze depicting the suffering Jesus . It was created in the 15th century by an anonymous painter who is now known under the pseudonym Passionsmeister (Swedish: Passionsmästaren ). The church contains an altar from 1663, which was painted by the Visby town painter Johan Bartsch and is on loan from the Gotlands Fornsal Museum in Visby.